Dr. Martina Cleary:

At the sub-committee recently, the banking federation proposed a potential advance of between 10% and 15% of the grant awarded. It made that calculation based on a figure of €420,000 and straight away I thought it was making an assumption that everybody will get the full amount, which is problematic. Very few will get that amount. That figure was already faulty because it will not be enough to start. Depending on the size of the house, €30,000, €40,000 or perhaps €60,000 will be needed to clear the site, get the reports done and everything else. It was amazing to me that in the calculation was based on the immediate assumption that everybody would get €420,000.

Many homeowners are stuck with mortgages on these properties that are essentially worth nothing. In County Clare, we have not received a grant yet. Many people are afraid to declare it to their banks because they are afraid the mortgage will be handed over to a vulture fund and moved off the books. At the recent committee meeting, we heard a verbal assurance that that the banks would not do that. Is that really the case? We need something in writing, legislation that protects the impacted homeowners so they have an assurance that if they declare it or ask for additional credit or anything like that, coming forward will not result in an additional penalty for them.