Time to get tough with fly-by-night builders

I AM angered by the problem of unfinished housing estates.

Not a week passes but I have a letter from some part of Co Cork and beyond complaining that a developer has moved on leaving the job in a complete mess.

Successive Governments have ignored the problem. Unscrupulous builders are frequently leaving estates half finished. Our planning laws are not stringent enough and the consequences have to be endured by the residents or local authorities. Local authority finances are restricted enough without having to pay for blatant contravention of weak laws.