Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I was in the Chair yesterday when this was being discussed and I could not contribute, although I wanted to. I dealt with the pyrite situation several years ago when it became obvious at the very beginning. I agree entirely that this is something that the homebuyers or home builders could do nothing about. They were victims of circumstances outside their control. Prior to that, we had the house builders guarantee scheme in this country, which was very effective. It was a simple way by which the construction industry, through self-regulation that worked, tried to ensure that the quality of materials going into the construction of houses was such as not to leave them liable to claims in the future. The insurance companies and local authorities were involved in it. It worked well until somebody decided it was no longer necessary. With pyrite, the guarantee was up to €30,000 and after that there was a serious problem. After €30,000, the problem was still the same for the individual householders. I suggest that whatever arrangement is arrived at that it be done in such a way to ensure that all the constituent bodies are involved. That means the Construction Federation of Ireland, Engineers Ireland, local authorities, insurance companies and the banks all have a contribution to make, and can do so. I am not sure that punishing the banks beforehand will encourage them to do anything like that. The primary aim now should be to address the issues of the appalling disintegration of people's houses.

I walked into those houses back then and it was appalling. I walked into the trenches that were dug in the middle of the houses, in some cases by the people themselves, in an effort to remedy the faults. That was before there was a remediation programme.

This is a serious issue and will become serious for all parts of the country as time goes on. I fully appreciate that people are directly effected by it now and the extent of that. We must all stand in solidarity with the public representatives of all parties in those areas who are united in doing everything possible to try to ensure that the issues are dealt with in a way that does not mean that the people have to live in penury for the rest of their lives. Something along the lines of what was a solid reliable scheme should be put in place. If it has to be done retrospectively, then so be it, but the constituent bodies should be brought into it.

There used to be a clerk of works in local authorities which was dispatched. That was not a good idea. With the banks, there was a system where someone building a one-off house could not draw down the loan unless there was some certification on the quality and condition of the houses. Why would they? They were going to be liable afterwards. All these issues need to be wound into a scheme that will deal with the issue and assuage the concerns of the public, particularly the householders whose quality of life has been seriously threatened by something that was totally and absolutely outside their control.