Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

There are many more important issues facing County Meath than banning stag hunting. If the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, has any influence, I ask him to ensure we are left alone because stag hunting is the only fun we have.

To return to the issue raised by Deputy Terence Flanagan, I was involved in resolving a similar problem in Kentstown, County Meath, where two houses basically exploded. The problems associated with pyrite here are much more progressive than in Canada. The houses to which I refer were built by cowboy builders only two or three years previously. As a result of damp in the sub-filling, the walls of one house split, while the floors of the second house exploded.

Last summer, I travelled to Dublin on many occasions to deal with Home Bond on behalf of the affected families. We secured an agreement under which the foundations of the two houses are to be dug out and renewed. Once this work is completed, a ten year guarantee will be provided. Unfortunately, according to figures provided by Home Bond, 20,000 houses in counties Meath, Dublin, Kildare and Offaly are affected by the problem. I am not a fool and I know Home Bond is not in a position to resolve the issue as it no longer has sufficient revenue and will not be able to replicate what has been done in the two houses in County Meath elsewhere.

When I raised this issue with the Minister three or four weeks ago he indicated that the matter was one for the builder, owner and Home Bond. Unfortunately, owners have been left on their own because their building insurance will not cover the problem on the basis that the word "pyrite" did not feature in the contract. Home Bond does not have sufficient funds to meet its obligations. They cannot do what they are supposed to do because the money is not there. I was dealing with a family in County Kildare, from an estate of eight houses. The people there have been left high and dry, one with a bill for more than €200,000. They have been offered a final settlement of €38,000 by Homebond, which I know to be as much as the company can give. This problem will not go away, as Deputy Terence Flanagan remarked, but will become a much bigger problem than any the State has had. It will be up to the Government of the day to fix it because nobody else is left, just as in Canada.

As Deputy Flanagan said, rightly, the substance has also got into the infrastructure. On 7 April, the NRA is to appear before the Joint Committee on Transport to answer questions. In all my dealings with homeowners, whether from County Kildare or from Dublin, one fact was reported to me - not through malice although I may have been somewhat foolish regarding some of the advice I got. However, I have taken it all on board. The M3 is a fantastic project but the NRA must let it be known whether this material is being used in its construction. If I were a betting man, I would say it is and if that is the case I will ask for every bit of it to be removed before the M3 is opened. In England, the M5 had to be closed down because it exploded. I do not want anybody to tell me this is not our responsibility because such an event would occur 30 or 40 years from now.

I will do anything at this stage and will be ruthless in order to help these homeowners. It is incredible to go into estates and see houses whose walls are cracking. One can fill and paint the walls and put wallpaper down again and return six months later to find them as bad again. I got a reply letter from the Minister of State on this matter. We are discussing pyrite and the situation has progressed since 2007. Homebond has acknowledged that 20,000 houses are affected.

This is an awful strain on a family, husband, wife and children, and I have seen these people. There was a case in Kingston and I do not know how the family got through it. The man and his wife were in their house only three months when the door could not be opened and the tiles and the walls split. There were cracks in the walls large enough to put a fist through. That house was bought with a mortgage of €485,000.

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