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RollingNews.ie

'Largely gone': Ghost estates are rapidly disappearing

South Dublin County Council is the first local authority area to have zero unfinished developments.

IN 2010 IRELAND had nearly 3,000 unfinished developments. Today that number is 420.

The ghost estates which epitomised Ireland’s property and economic crash are now “largely gone” says junior Housing Minister Damien English.

Speaking at the launch of the fifth annual progress report and seventh housing survey on tackling the issue of unfinished housing developments, English said the problem will not soon be forgotten, but the problem was nearly solved.

The report from the Department of Housing shows that there has been an 85% drop in the unfinished developments since 2010 from nearly 3000 to 420. 2016 alone saw the resolution of 248 developments.

The survey also found that 2,000 units are currently being utilised for social housing purposes.

English said that it was his objective to resolve all remaining unfinished housing developments “especially those within high market demand locations”.

The report shows that South Dublin County Council is the first local authority area to have zero unfinished developments.

English added:

“[It is my] objective for the following year is to bring back vacant units into reuse for social housing purposes with the potential acquisition or leasing of 1,300 vacant units as a major objective for 2017.”

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29 Comments
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    Mute aoife kally
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:11 AM

    Gosh the pay is awful

    233
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    Mute John Joe Collins
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:15 AM

    Thats just for 38 hours a week…. They love the double bubble on the weekend..

    47
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    Mute IrishGravyTrain
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:24 AM

    Expenses that can be claimed are lovely though, I hear.

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    Mute Kinsaleable
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:33 AM

    What expenses? You’re showing your true ignorance now gravytrain. I’d say you’d want to question your”source” and don’t just assume that what you hear is correct. Maybe try looking at gra website to see what the pay entails instead of trying to troll by using word like expenses..

    135
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    Mute Kinsaleable
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:35 AM

    Double bubble for the weekend? I think it’s 12 euro extra for a Saturday with an allowance for Sundays. They work 5 Sundays out of 10. I think I’d rather be with the family.

    161
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    Mute Teddington
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:36 AM

    Aoife the salary is probably only half of the picture, there’s a list of allowances available to Gardai which would make a politician blush, it really is a long list and a lot of the payments are tax free. I’m not bashing Gards by the way because I have nothing but respect for the job they do and I would not do it myself so they deserve what ever they get. but the picture painted of Gardai not earning much money seems to be a misrepresentation to me.

    http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Garda%20Pay%20and%20Allowances%20wef%201-1-2010.xls/Files/Garda%20Pay%20and%20Allowances%20wef%201-1-2010.xls

    38
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    Mute filthypete
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:47 AM

    Available but not possible to claim as a lot of them are posts so they don’t get anti social hours allowances and a lot aren’t available to Garda rank. New recruits unfortunately don’t even get the rent allowance which is core pay for every one else. It’s tough money starting off.

    87
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    Mute Mark Newton
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:48 AM

    That’s basic pay. They get allowances on top of the basic. It’s still not great pay but the allowances are a big help I believe.

    18
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    Mute Rock Stoneballs
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:49 AM

    Teddington did you actually read what you just posted? Most of those allowances are *potential* and only apply if you’re stationed in the Aran Islands or an instructor or something.

    Most Gardaí wouldn’t be eligible for the big ones, so your crusade to tar them all as money grabbers and worse than politicians is shameful.

    98
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    Mute Teddington
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:53 AM

    Lads will you all calm down the information is all there and all I’m doing is highlighting it, once you’re out of Templemore you get a €4K tax free housing allowance, that’s a required €8K payrise to anyone but a Garda. Pay in every profession is poor at the start and increases as you go but if you add €8K to every pay scale on the list things look a lot better already and that’s only one of the allowances.

    25
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    Mute Rock Stoneballs
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:08 AM

    Teddington that’s €4,017 rent allowance they get every year. Equates to about 300 quid a month.

    Since they do a fairly thankless job for quite bad would you really begrudge them something that already exists as a social welfare payment?

    51
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    Mute Rock Stoneballs
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:08 AM

    *for quite bad pay I meant there, sorry

    17
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    Mute Teddington
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:12 AM

    Rock Stoneballs I don’t know why everyone is getting on my back here, I have no issues with Garda pay I just think that the figures that are constantly thrown about are a misrepresentation. €300 quid a month is not a bad little tax free payment every month, it’s a €600 increase to anyone else before tax so I was merely pointing out that the pay scales are a little bit misleading.

    27
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    Mute Rock Stoneballs
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:27 AM

    You might say you’re doing a very thankless job for very bad recompense then eh?

    11
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    Mute Aidan
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    Jan 6th 2016, 12:15 PM

    Teddington how much are you getting paid to sit on your hole and post on the journal :-)

    26
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    Mute Pat O Brien
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    Jan 6th 2016, 12:34 PM

    Teddington. ….. The rent allowance is taxable. …. your info is wrong. And the article is about new recruits who don’t get this rent allowance.

    47
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    Mute Seamus O' Tiomain
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    Jan 6th 2016, 12:48 PM

    All allowances are taxable. Fact

    29
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    Mute Philip Grant
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    Jan 6th 2016, 1:18 PM

    This link is 6 years old !! Dosent take into USC,pay cuts ,pension levy etc !!

    25
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    Mute Seán O'Ceallaghan
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    Jan 6th 2016, 2:42 PM

    On the street for under 24k a year? It’s definitely not a job you do for the money,

    17
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    Mute Stephen Bell
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    Jan 6th 2016, 2:58 PM

    Not tax free dude… Paid weekly in core pay and has paye, usc, prsi, superannuation and pension levy deducted from as all allowances have… All those deductions add up to approximately 60%…. None of the allowances are tax free despite what you think

    11
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    Mute Christy Morrison
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    Jan 6th 2016, 3:33 PM

    This is not tax free and not applicable to new entrants.

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    Mute Kinsaleable
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    Jan 6th 2016, 4:23 PM

    I believe that the rent allowance was introduced back when the gardai were fighting for a pay increase and the government didn’t want increases across the board. It is not tax free.

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    Mute The Guru
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:13 AM

    So after 19 years you get to a salary where you can start thinking about saving for a house deposit in Dublin. Think I’ll give it a miss thanks.

    134
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    Mute Teddington
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:43 AM

    Forget the salary it really doesn’t even begin to paint the picture, there’s a list of allowances as long as your arm (many tax free) on top of it, I don’t know why they bother with this idiotic idea of paying them a low salary and then bouncing it up with a host of other payments, it might be because they can give them tax free if they’re allowances instead of salary.

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:29 AM

    @ Cardio … LOL !! Plenty of red thumbs from the Gardai no doubt , the longer we keep them occupied reading these comments the more time we give those who’re really take a stand for justice, Liberty and against corruption : IRISH WATER PROTESTORS

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    Mute Pat O Brien
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    Jan 6th 2016, 12:36 PM

    95% of garda allowances are taxable….your completely wrong.

    28
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    Mute Seamus O' Tiomain
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    Jan 6th 2016, 12:49 PM

    No allowances in Garda are tax free. Fact

    25
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    Mute John Joe Collins
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    Jan 6th 2016, 9:55 AM

    A Garda pulls over a farmer on the road and says do you realise your wife fell out on road side a mile back… Farmer says thank god i thought i was going deaf!

    97
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    Mute Social Dynamics
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:48 AM

    They work 6 days on then get 4 days off -the 6 days are 10 hour days. They used to have a cushy number with easy money and extra payments but not anymore. I’ve yet to meet a guard that actually likes their job! They’re all counting down the days til they can retire!!

    77
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    Mute Teddington
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:03 AM

    If they’re not happy in their jobs they should move as should anyone else out there, life is too short to be miserable like that. I know quite a few Gardai and all of them love what they do but the unsocial hours obvsiously get at them a bit as they miss a lot of things because of it.

    31
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    Mute IrishGravyTrain
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    Jan 6th 2016, 9:54 AM

    Are letters of endorsement from the Parish Priest and Local GAA club not requirements anymore?

    61
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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:11 AM

    Don’t forget you need a big pair of lugs.

    22
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    Mute Ger Comings
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:12 AM

    No – but stereotypes need only apply…

    20
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    Mute Tap Solny
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:58 AM

    Where are all those people who complained about the high wages earned by public and civil servants? Where are all those people who continuously whinged about the cushy numbers and the massive pensions? Now the same simpletons have a chance to apply for one of these much sought after positions, but all they do now is complain about low wages and poor conditions.

    59
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    Mute Teddington
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    Jan 6th 2016, 11:04 AM

    They will be applying in their droves for these positions, you just wait and see Tap, I would guess they’ll get north of 20k applications for these positions.

    22
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    Mute Cosmo Kramer
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:12 AM

    Expect a lot more lads hiding behind bus shelters with speed guns over the coming years.. All new recruits will be trained well in the revenue making scams from day one in Templemore..

    29
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    Mute David Conroy
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:16 AM

    @Cosmo. If you drive responsibly why would you worry about fines ? Maybe it’s not someone else’s fault ?

    116
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    Mute Al-Right
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    Jan 6th 2016, 10:31 AM

    Taxi drivers!

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    Mute Aidan
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    Jan 6th 2016, 1:17 PM

    So if someone break the law they might get caught.

    What else exactly would you have a police force do you complete bell end

    17
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    Mute Alex Flynn
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    Jan 6th 2016, 1:11 PM

    Considering the importance of the job the Gardai do its shocking how little they are being paid overall. €45k after 19 years of service is rubbish, after a couple of years in Dublin or London it’s fairly realistic for a recent graduate to be earning that.

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    Mute Noel Falkhall
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    Jan 6th 2016, 2:31 PM

    Should have kept the salary to themselves or open applications to 5 yrs old and up, as 19 yrs service to earn a salary that you can’t pay a mortgage with is insane and then deal with the lowest form of humanity. Starting salary €40k with €75k after 21 yrs now that’d be an incentive.

    18
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    Mute PaddyMan515
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    Jan 6th 2016, 1:30 PM

    To me it seems like this campaign is getting a lot of media attention. I don’t think they will have the numbers applying for it that they may have hoped

    15
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    Mute Ian Begley
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    Jan 6th 2016, 1:20 PM

    Great career. Best of luck to all the applicants who applied.

    14
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    Mute Tony Seville
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    Jan 6th 2016, 2:44 PM

    There is no rent allowances for new entrants, this was cut during the austerity measures, their salary and unsociable hours allowances were also reduced by 10%, all in the new Garda gets approximately £8,000 less. To add further insult their pensions are also significantly reduced

    11
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    Mute Tony Seville
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    Jan 6th 2016, 2:37 PM

    There is no rent allowances for new entrants, their unsociable hours were also cut, so on average they are down £8,000 euro

    11
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    Mute Paddy Kavanagh
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    Jan 6th 2016, 8:38 PM

    i was actually researching it and was humouring the idea of signing up on the website..then i seen the pay. I was unemployed at the time but luckily for a job in the mean time. A career change is only a good idea if you can afford to live after the decision

    3
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