Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before Dr. Hunt comes in, I commend the fact that the banks have taken the right approach in coming together. The numbers are small because we are at the start of this. There are thousands of households whose houses have to be demolished. That is the unfortunate, brutal reality of this. Only a few hundred have been approved in respect of the scheme, and there are other challenges now because it has moved to the second scheme and so on.

We do not have 100% redress. It may be called that, but these families and everybody else will say there is a shortfall there. As for the approach the banks took, not waiting for individual customers but recognising that there is a problem here in respect of the initial stage, I ask them to take the same approach to the gap funding. The political system is the best place to resolve this. It should be a proper 100% scheme, but in the meantime there are people who are not even thinking about doing this because they just cannot do it. People can do the maths very quickly on their phone or a calculator and figure out how much they would get from the grant, but this is not covered and that is not covered. They could be short €45,000, and what are they to do? It is shutters down, head in the sand, and they cannot do anything because there is no way for them to get that money.

What I am asking for is a bit of imagination and collaboration, not on an individual but on a sector-wide basis, to look at a product that can be provided to these individuals, recognising that they are a completely different cohort. I do not blame the banks. It was not them but light-touch regulation that resulted in this. The banks support communities at different points. The banks stepped up. Some of the banks that are present put their hands in their pockets and gave money to the Creeslough fund. They support communities in respect of sponsorship, charities, sports organisations and so on. This is a social catastrophe that is happening in many of our regions. I ask the witnesses to look at a product that would help those at the other end because there is an issue there. I acknowledge what they have done in the first part.

Does Dr. Hunt wish to add anything?