Departmental Bodies
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

I thank the Minister of State. I did tell him it was Wednesday 26 February. The cut-and-paste sentences in the beginning are exactly the same but forget about that. People have to do a job, and I understand that. The Minister of State has shined a light in a few places. All of that, I dare say spiel, but, respectfully, all that the Minister of State read out there is about resources. There are 71 vacancies in an organisation that is two years old. This is the story that is told to the solicitors who ring up. I sat in a solicitor's office last Friday and what people are told when they ring up is that they cannot do anything about that. It is a disgrace if Tailte Éireann is not functioning for our farmers, farm lands, farm buildings, commercial people, residential people and young people trying to get property. It needs to, and I am calling on the Minister of State to use his powers and have a discussion with his management team and find out what is going to Tailte Éireann.
I will be writing to the Committee of Public Accounts because I believe we need to examine Tailte Éireann and its practices. It is not fit for purpose. I do not want to get into personal cases, but I know people who have been waiting for two or three years. The Minister of State said it takes 14 or 15 days. If there is a query, cases are left sitting and are not sent back.
When people ring up, they are refused a conversation. They are told they must go through their solicitors. I want to say it loud and clear: this organisation is simply not fit for purpose. It is not doing its job in a professional or timely manner. It is leaving farmers, businesspeople and people seeking homes in distress and leaving many issues unresolved. I know the Minister of State will have to investigate all of that, but I ask him to commit to a root-and-branch review of the organisation. I will contact the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, under whose remit this body falls, to ask to bring in representatives of Tailte Éireann as early in the new year as possible. There are big problems here that impact the Minister of State's constituents and mine.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09