Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

What I intended was to give over my time to some people who probably needed more time. I think Senator Fitzpatrick explained that the idea behind this meeting was that it was going to be the initial meeting with affected homeowners and residents, and then we were going to do a follow-up with the State agencies that are responsible. With that in mind, the questions I have crafted are quite specific to that.

Dr. Cleary talked about the appeals process and what she identifies as an issue where each of the appeals processes are dealt with individually and not in quantums. Will Dr. Cleary explain to me how the appeals process works and how dealing with them individually will be a shift? Do they group actions or is it just that they are reporting on larger numbers there? I want a bit of clarification on what currently happens.

On the SEAI fast-tracking, will some of the witnesses give me an idea as to how long they are currently waiting through the SEAI process? I know it is an issue across the board, and I have no problem with fast-tracking for affected homeowners but I just want to get an idea of how long people are waiting.

Dr. Cleary also talked about disposal of materials, and Mr. O'Donnell talked about demolition. Can I get an idea of the average costs of disposal of materials, and then the average cost of demolition? A cost of €36,000 before you ever build was talked about but the disposal thing would be interesting with regard to the big additional cost that imposes on homeowners.

On the availability of builders themselves within the witnesses' individual regions, I know that is becoming a bigger issue. Let us say you have been approved for a grant, are ready to go and are shovel ready, for want of a better word, on a project, how long are people then waiting to be able to get builders to come in? I would be interested in that.

Will Dr. Cleary talk to me a little bit about the fair deal scheme? It was in her written statement but she did not address as much in her spoken statement. Does she have any suggestions on ways to do that and improve it? The statement talked about people qualifying for the fair deal scheme and waiting for their value to be restored. Is that the value of the house itself or is it a market value of the house? I want to get an explanation and clarification on that.