Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it was public money. Local authorities have also made large contributions because they were involved in the shared ownership scheme. Some people, however, have been totally left high and dry and it frustrates me that the Minister and Minister of State, Deputies Eoghan Murphy and English, said in the Seanad that they will not get involved because it would expose the State to financial losses. In many ways, though, it was the State that let these people down. I engage with people who are frustrated, angry and confused and there is friction between people living in apartments who are paying and those who cannot pay, which is not a very nice way to live.

We need a pathway to resolve this and I admire the witnesses present today. We have spoken at length about low-cost finance and I am really frustrated they have not had the opportunity to access that. A lot of apartment owners feel they should not have to borrow money to fix defects that should never have happened in the first place.

They have to be pragmatic at some stage and try to get that resolved. That is an element of it, as are the tax breaks.

What level of engagement do the witnesses have with the Department or the Ministers? I have raised this over and over again and am probably getting the same answers as the witnesses but I would like to hear it from them. Have they had face-to-face engagements with the Ministers in the relevant Departments? What answers have they been given about low-cost finance, tax relief or the resolution of the outstanding issues? There must be solutions. We cannot keep kicking the can down the road because we cannot leave families in these circumstances.

To indirectly answer an earlier question, there will be something in my party's manifesto about this issue. I hope every other party also includes it in theirs. Many members of this committee have worked extremely hard on this issue. I give the witnesses a commitment that resolving this will be in our party's manifesto coming into the next general election. We cannot leave more than 90,000 people in no man's land forever.