Taoiseach asked to call developer over €4m bill

Updated 3pm The Taoiseach has been asked to pick up the phone and ring a property developer, and ask him for the money to pay for urgent work on a Dublin apartment complex.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been asked to pick up the phone and ring a property developer, and ask him for the money to pay for urgent work on a Dublin apartment complex.

Mr Kenny has been told he should ring developer Bernard McNamara and get him to cover the €4m needed for works at Longboat Quay.

Residents at the complex in Dublin's Docklands have been given until the end of the day to come up with the money for urgent work, or else face evacuation by Dublin Fire Brigade.

More than 600 residents could find themselves homeless, leading to an urgent plea in the Dáil from Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald.

“I think you should raise the telephone to Bernard McNamara and the other responsible authorities and ask them to make good on that four million,”Ms McDonald said.

But the Taoiseach stopped short and said he'd need further information

“I have not spoken to Mr McNamara for quite a number of years, I don’t know whether in raising this here you have made attempts to speak to him yourself,” Mr Kenny said.

“I need to know more about whether there was a home bond insurance scheme on any of these houses or whether there was any other insurance scheme.”