Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabh mo leithscéal. Cheap mé go raibh an Teachta Mattie McGrath ag labhairt ar dtús. I am disappointed to see that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage left before the Rural Independent Group's slot was reached. Perhaps he is reflecting on his bad behaviour last week. I do not know but it is disappointing to see that he is not here.

I have met many people from Donegal and Mayo outside the gates of Leinster House and have seen the looks of despair and anguish on their faces. That is why I am here today. I am a Deputy from the midlands but I believe that this is an important issue that needs to be resolved urgently because it is desperately unfair on those families. These families have been through turmoil. They need to see action. Government needs to instil confidence that it is doing its best. To date, that confidence certainly has not been instilled. Why would the Government leave foundations out of the proposed redress scheme? That is incredible but not surprising. The Minister has his own ideas.

I will read out parts of an email that were sent to me by a lady called Joy, an innocent homeowner.

She writes:

How can you let the bill go through without including foundations ...? Below our feet our homes are crumbling and unable to support the walls - what is it going to take to make the government realise that a tragedy will happen? Sadly I have no doubt this will be a reality as families will be unable to avail of the scheme as it stands due to the shortfall between the grant and actual building costs. Our homes are destined to crumble down around us until it takes us, I just hope and pray that children are not harmed, maimed for life or worse ... this is the stage we are getting to and many homes should be condemned.

As our walls are weakening our ... floors are too heavy to be supported by the walls that are crumbling down around them ... where is the safest place in your opinion for me to sleep at night? ... I am sure you will agree it is a tough decision to take when going to bed at night. Sleeping on the first floor - would I be safer as I will fall to the floor below when this eventually happens? or maybe I would be safer on the ground floor of my home and take my chances that the ... slab will perhaps miss me as it falls down? I am sure you will agree this is tough call as you put your children to bed [every] night haunted by the fact of what can happen in the night and [wondering] if they will be safe.

[...]

We have done absolutely nothing wrong yet are living this nightmare daily. We are stressed and extremely anxious to hear if we can rebuild our homes and if the science and research from world leaders in this field will be listened to. How can this research and advice from these experts be ignored?

Sadly the SCSI rates will not allow me to rebuild my home as the rates leave a massive shortfall (approx €60,000 + foundations) but please, please put yourself in our shoes - how would you feel if you had built a home and the government did not regulate the block manufacturers and now we the innocent victims of this ... crisis are left to spend the rest of our days in fear of our safety or be in debt the rest of our lives. How can this possibly be fair? If you can find a builder to build at these rates please pass on my details as I have yet to find a builder who comes anywhere close [to] the SCSI rates.

The issues around cost have been pointed out by Deputy O'Donoghue, who is an expert in this field as he is a building contractor. Insulation from companies like Kingspan will increase by 25% by 1 July. These costs were not factored into the current proposal. Costs are escalating every day. We need a bit of common sense and cop on here. It should not take three months to revise the costs. That is nonsense.

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