Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their statements. One of the statements, perhaps Ms Larkin's, suggested there is an urgency to this issue but there is no urgency if we have been sitting on something for 12 months and nothing has been done.

The first point I want to speak about is why people are not applying and there are such low numbers of applicants for the scheme in Mayo. Mr. Kelly has correspondence from the North Mayo Pyrite Group that outlines exactly what is wrong with the scheme and what needs to be done in order for people to be able to proceed and access the scheme. The Taoiseach and the Minister for housing also have that correspondence. There is no excuse and people cannot say they are trying to second guess why people are either not applying or not proceeding with the scheme. One of the main issues is with the foundations and the fact the foundations are not included. Is there anybody in this room who thinks it is okay for people to go ahead and rebuild houses without testing the foundations? Does anybody think it is okay to do that without the foundations being tested? I include Ms Larkin in that question. Does she think it is advisable for people to go ahead and rebuild houses without at least testing the foundations? Perhaps Ms Larkin could answer that question.