Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I fully support the Government amendment as well as sections of the Independent Deputies' motion. My own constituency has been badly affected by poor construction by builders and developers in the past ten years, as have other constituencies. Poor regulation and builders' greed have caused many of these problems, while home owners, through no fault of their own, have been left to pick up the pieces. There have been a number of high profile cases, one of which involved the use of pyrite. The owners of Menolly Homes, which is a reputable building company, put their hands up and admitted that they had a difficulty and a problem. They set up a timetable of works to remedy the faults in the homes that were affected. Menolly Homes then, of course, took a court case against the quarry that provided the building material. That action is to be commended, particularly as we know of other cases where home owners are not so fortunate, where builders have disappeared, developers have gone to ground and do not want to know anything about faulty materials, and home owners are left carrying the can.

Previous speakers referred to HomeBond and its functions. HomeBond was established as a warranty scheme rather than an insurance scheme and there was inadequate back-up to provide help and insurance for home owners when pyrite was found in their homes. Premier Guarantee has been honouring many claims, but HomeBond has not co-operated and has refused to attend the Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht. I hope the pyrite panel, established by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, will produce a list of solutions.

Home owners in Priory Hall, which has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, find themselves homeless and in temporary accommodation, through no fault of their own. The development was constructed by a rogue builder who did not want to know about the fire safety issues when they came to light. I hope something good will come from the temporary resolution process that has been established and that all interested parties will resolve the issue together.

Lack of fire safety is also an issue in the Belmayne development. In that case the developer is dealing with the problem, although some outstanding cases need further attention.

The Government inherited much of the mess in the construction industry. The Minister has gone about trying to change things and ensuring mandatory certification and lodgment of drawings prior to and after construction, to ensure developments are adequately constructed in future.

See this speech in context