Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending, for their opening statements and for all of the work they have been doing to support homeowners. They articulated their frustrations clearly. It is frustrating for us, too, as this is half of the meeting we had wanted to hold. We invited the statutory agencies responsible for the operation and implementation of the scheme, but that was not possible today. It is our intention to have meetings with them in future and I commit to raising with them the questions the witnesses are posing today. Those meetings will be conducted in public. I say this by way of a response, as a number of the witnesses have asked specific questions that most of us on the committee are not in a position to answer. However, we can seek answers to those questions.

I believe Mr. O’Donnell referenced the inflation in construction costs, which is the first major issue. We are all conscious of it. Everyone talks about house prices. Inflation in construction costs is significant and a major driver. For the witnesses, it has a compounding effect because this is the second time they are investing in a home. Have they estimated what the additional costs will be? If €420,000 was the estimated cost of a full rebuild when the scheme was announced, what would a revised amount need to be? I appreciate that this is not an exact science and I will not hold Mr. O’Donnell to his answer, but it would be helpful for us to have an understanding of the scale. If he could share that information with us, it would be great. If any of the other witnesses wishes to contribute after Mr. O’Donnell, I will be happy to hear from them.