Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Dr. Kelly for his statement. It concurs with a lot of what we have heard on the SPU so far. I will concentrate my time on a concern I have. We are a budgetary oversight committee. I refer to Government expenditure for mica and pyrite homes and what can be done about it within the remit of the Central Bank. On a macro level, we are predicted to spend about €3.65 billion on rebuilding people's homes and people's lives, with around €230 million before 2020. While the witnesses are here, I ask them what concerns they would have about rebuilding homes that are, as the scheme sits at the moment, and as the banks are at the moment, not remortgageable and not insurable. In the Central Bank's consumer protection role, what can it do about that? We have the banking system making money from assets that are worth zero. I talk to homeowners across Mayo and Donegal, in particular, but also Clare and other areas, where the banks are actually making money out of this situation. We are predicted to spend billions and we will have housing stock that is not remortgageable or resaleable. Can the witnesses speak to that? How does the Central Bank reconcile that, and what can it do within its remit to try to resolve that?