Bill of €15.4m for unfinished estates

Cork county manager Martin Riordan has said his cash-strapped local authority cannot wave a magic wand and fix an estimated 140 unfinished estates overnight.

He made his comments after it emerged that the council is carrying out a comprehensive audit of all unfinished estates to get an overview of how much it would cost to take them in charge.

Several of the estates — which are dotted all over the county — have inadequate sewerage treatment systems and Mr Riordan said they could cost up to €14m to rectify.