Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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I am basing the costs in our area at roughly around €180 per sq. ft. That is the cost, roughly, to build a house. So, a 2,000 sq. ft house would cost some €360,000 plus VAT. The VAT on that house would be €48,600. That VAT is the first thing the Government could waive, which might bring us back into a slight part of redress. The percentage rate that we are missing is the VAT. If anyone who has pyrite in their house could remove the VAT this would be €48,000 that would bring us closer to getting where the costings are.

Going back to the building process, I will just start with a house that has pyrite at the moment. If I come in the front gate I may see that there is a tarmac drive, if the house is lucky enough to have one. If the house must be taken down then the sewerage sytem and the footpath and everything around the house will be impacted because it will involve going down to the foundation level. This means all of the sewerage system being taken up. The €180 per sq. ft does not cover all the external works. It is just to the builder's finish. It does not include a kitchen, curtains, paint, or reinstatement of bathroom tiles. It comes up well short of the costings being given at the moment. To remove all the rubble from the site it now must go to licensed tips. One might not have a licensed tip near enough to the area so there will also be a transport cost of getting that material from the household to a licensed tip. This also adds another cost. When one works this out, it could be an extra €30 per sq. ft more by the time all of the remedial works around the house are done such as reinstating lawns. It is not a small job to take out the material that must be taken out. The Government has not looked at this and the costings have not been looked at. If the Government wants to come closer to the costs - and we have Government people here and they all want to help - then 13.5% VAT on a 2,000 sq. ft house is €48,600. This figure should be added into the redress scheme, 100% straight away. This brings us closer to where we need to get to, but they still need to raise the rates.

When the materials are purchased they are at 23% VAT. The contractor then puts 13.5% on the bottom. That is 10% more on the materials' costings that are coming in.