Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious that the Commissioner is due to leave at 6 o'clock and we are not far away from that time. I will perhaps mention something that has been raised a number of times at this committee. We introduced a defective blocks scheme in 2020 for houses that are crumbling because their blocks are defective. It was similar to a pyrite scheme that was introduced in 2013. It was a national catastrophe, which the Government moved in to address. The scheme that was introduced in 2020 did not go far enough for the homeowners, however. It was basically unaffordable. We are talking about thousands of houses. Is this an issue the Commissioner has come across in his own country or in other European Union countries, whereby an issue of defective blocks resulted in cracks appearing in the walls of houses? Many people eventually had to leave their houses and some of these houses have been demolished in the last year.

Second, is there a role for the likes of the European Investment Bank in supporting these people?

It is very much an issue that is coming close to a conclusion. The Government is working on a plan at the moment to try to accommodate and facilitate people whose lives have been shattered, who feel unsafe in their houses and who basically want to get on with their lives.