Ms Geraldine Larkin:

The work on concluding that standard is critically dependent on the research that has been previously mentioned. That is going to take time. It is likely to take the remainder of this year and next year. It is likely to be 2024 before the standard is finalised. We are hugely conscious of the impact on and the financial cost to all homeowners and the State and also on the many professionals with whom we engage, who are trying to grapple with this issue. We have committed that if at any point during the course of the research work it is possible for us to produce interim findings or standards, we certainly will. Right now, the timeline we are looking at will take us out to 2024. That is not what I want to be able to say to the committee today. I would much rather be able to say that I could deliver this to all those affected homeowners early next year, but that is not the case. The research is going to take time and we must be sure we make the right recommendations to homeowners.