Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was just looking through some of my emails from different concerned individuals. One person said they contacted their insurance company and told them they had cracks in the wall because they thought if something happened and they did not disclose it, they would not get a settlement payment. They got a phone call from the insurance company - I will not name the insurance company, but it seems to be a trend among the large players - to say the person's insurance was cancelled.

Different houses are at different stages but in regard to deleterious material, we have been in houses where there is a fire risk. The risk of fire is a lot more advanced and obviously the fire will spread faster as well because of the structure of the blocks and the fact that they are breaking down from the inside. The fire risk itself is an issue because plugs have become unsafe due to the cracks, moisture and cables being exposed. I can understand the response of the insurance industry but what I am concerned about is whether the industry is going to sign off on a house that is partially remediated. I refer to when people actually tell a company that the outer blocks were done but when they are asked the question if their house is in good repair, they will have to declare that they have deleterious material in their inner block. The inner block is the one that holds all the plugs and sockets, and all the rest. Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I have been in houses where they cannot use the plugs. They cannot put on their dishwasher or tumble dryer and everything has to be moved into another room because of what is happening with the inner block.

I say that because I am worried about the issue. I have two questions. Does anybody know when we are likely – Mr. Owens in particular might have some insight into this - to have the standard review completed? Do we have any indication or does he have any insight that he could give us? It has been going on for the past three years.