I will talk about local authorities and councils, and address some of the comments made by the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, earlier this week about derelict houses. It was a low blow to attack local authorities and councillors for not doing enough. I wonder has he forgotten that local authorities get their policy from Government. Dereliction is a massive and complicated issue. Our local authorities have been doing the best they can with the resources available to them. There can be problems with ownership, titles or rebate, making it difficult to see who is responsible for a property. Of course, policies and schemes have to be workable and sometimes schemes are unworkable. The Tánaiste said he was frustrated that he had to bring in legislation to fine owners of derelict properties but it was already in the programme for Government. The existing legislation goes back to the 1990s and is not fit for purpose. For context, there are circulars and diktats sent down from Government Departments on an ongoing and constant basis. Every day, there is something new from the Government that has to be implemented at local authority level. Local authorities are really struggling with their workloads. They need more resources.

I have noticed a culture of the blame game. The Minister, Deputy Browne, when there were floods in Enniscorthy, blamed Met Éireann for not giving a warning. I was at a funeral a couple of weeks ago and was asked by a constituent about her road, which is in a very bad condition. I said that the money is not there for the roads. It is just not there. I told her she needs to lobby her local Fianna Fáil TD. She told me she had already done so and was told it was the fault of the local authority. It is unfair to be blaming local authorities when they are not properly financed and resourced.