Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

All of us in this House have made the choice to put ourselves before the public and become public representatives. We have made choices to make political decisions. The people in the Gallery, those with houses affected by pyrite, did not make choices to be political. However, they have been forced into this by the consequence of what has happened to them.

Unfortunately, the Bill the Minister has brought before us today does not deal with the matter sufficiently. He heard the testimony from the people in Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Limerick and Clare. They have been left with a shortfall of between 20% and 30% to rebuild their homes which are falling in pieces around them.

It is disappointing for them and it is disappointing for the country that we are in this predicament. All of us pay taxes. The Government is about having a safety net for people. When they are in trouble and their backs are to the wall, they need to have somebody to back them up and that is the Government they elect. That should be there as a last port of call. The Minister is letting them down here. That is very clear from the testimonies that have been read out today.

Some 80 amendments to the Bill have been tabled. We often have many amendments to Bills before the House, but to have 80 is a reflection of how deficient this legislation is in delivering for the people across all these areas and indeed other counties that may yet be affected.

An abundance of houses in my constituency in County Sligo have the same problem. Homeowners have applied to the local authority and to date they have not been approved for the scheme. We need a process to ensure they are accommodated quickly. It is not just in these counties because, as we know, county boundaries do not have some kind of limits that materials cannot cross. There are no checkpoints at county boundaries to see if deficient materials are crossing into other counties. It is quite clear that many counties around the country will have the same problem with deficient materials.

We need to ensure this scheme works for everyone everywhere who finds themselves in this situation. We need to ensure priority is given to people who are owner occupiers, people who are renting houses in this situation, but also others as has been said. Nursing homes and various other public buildings will have the same problem and this scheme does not address those. It is very clear that this scheme is deficient and the Minister needs to accept that. He needs to make the space to accept all the amendments that have been tabled by various Deputies. He needs to ensure time is given to get the legislation to work.

What we have is simply wrong. We have left and right in this Chamber but we also have right and wrong in it. It is wrong that people would be wronged in this way and left with homes crumbling around them. The Government is not stepping up to the mark adequately to provide for their needs.

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