Residents of a Galway housing estate were waiting 40 years for it to be taken over by the county council, Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins has said.

She said the situation in Abbey Trinity, Tuam, was replicated elsewhere, with the residents of another estate in the town, Elm Court, facing into their 22nd year of waiting.

“These are only two of seven estates in the Tuam area that are in the same situation,’’ said Ms Higgins.

She said such estates faced a plethora of issues ranging from building companies in receivership to financial institutions holding bonds that could not be accessed because of the preferential creditors’ rules.

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“Many of the estates in question are falling into disrepair, posing health and safety threats. Homeowners across the country, who bought their properties in good faith, are caught in a quagmire, finding that they have no security.’’

She said people had no clarity on who would mend their footpaths, maintain their street lighting, take care of the general upkeep of their estates, and ensure that full snag lists had been completed.

“I saw where raw sewage was being pumped into an estate’s common area before flowing into some residents’ properties,’’ said Ms Higgins.

Minister of State Jimmy Deenihan, substituting for Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly, said the number of unfinished housing estates nationally had decreased by about two-thirds since 2010, from nearly 3,000 to 992. Since 2010 an annual national survey had been conducted to monitor progress.