Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)

I received an e-mail from a constituent, a young woman living in Applewood in Swords. She was told her apartment did not comply with fire safety standards. With her neighbours, she was told she would have to pay €3,200 to make the building safe unless she wanted to find herself in the same position as the Priority Hall residents. When she contacted the management company and indicated she did not have the money, her debt was passed to a debt collector. The e-mail states:

I just do not know what to do. I have no savings. I owe the bank and the credit union so much money that I would never qualify for a loan, and even if I did, I could not afford the repayments. I pay my mortgage every month, no matter how much of a struggle it is, and all the things I have to do without to pay it and my credit union loan. I do not know what to do. I thought you might be able to help.

The Visitors Gallery is full of people who find themselves in a similar position. They have been evacuated from their homes in Priory Hall and given up their holidays to come and listen to the debate. They are doing so because their homes are without value. They are not here for the good of their health but because they want help.

Labour Party Deputies have claimed the State has no responsibility and talk as if this would be some kind of bailout for the construction industry. They should be ashamed of themselves; they have long left the tradition of the likes of James Connolly. These victims bought their homes in the belief they were buying a product fit for purpose. The regulations have failed them.

Yesterday the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, indicated that there was a robust system of building controls in place and that local authorities were successfully using their powers against non-compliant operators. That is simply not true; it is utter rubbish. If it was the case, those present in the Visitors Gallery would not be here and there would not be the problems being described. Unless the Government understands the problem, it will not be able to formulate a solution. This is not a personal attack, as the problem is systemic.

The Minister of State, Deputy Shane McEntee, was being nice yesterday when he spoke about others speaking up before the last general election. He was the sole voice on these issues. The Government cannot keep blaming Fianna Fáil for these problems. Unless the Government changes its approach and deals with this, the problem will not be addressed. The approach outlined just now by the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and by the Minister last night is predicated on the basis of avoiding responsibility for the State and minimising any expense to it at the expense of quality workmanship and fit for purpose products for householders. Unless we change that attitude, there can be no resolution.

The current regulations are not bad but they are not policed or enforced and that is where the problem arises. The Government's own policy ensures that will continue. It brags about a situation where it inspects 23% of sites when only 15% inspection is required. That is nothing about which to brag because much of that inspection is superficial. There cannot be any shortcuts here. There is a proposal for a State inspection process involving foundations, wall plates and presumably roofs upon completion but that is not enough. Self-certification is good, all of those involved in the construction should sign off on their work, but it must be checked. In buildings where fire is an issue there must be 100% checking. That is the system in other states and our citizens deserve no less.

The Government is not proposing that. Unless it deals with this and the restoration of the building inspector function, these problems will remain. That is the fundamental basis of this motion: for a publicly independent inspectorate to regulate work from now on with adequate resources. The Government has some neck to suggest local authorities have the wherewithal to do this with a recruitment embargo in place and a lack of resources. It will not happen.

The idea that the responsibility will be placed on architects is all the Government has come up with. It is ludicrous. In effect, architects are being criminalised because they must sign off on everything. They are not on-site and do not have the expertise to judge all this. It is like asking a hairdresser to fix a pair of shoes. They do not have the competence; this is simply another game of buck passing. That must be addressed or we cannot move forward.

A Labour Party Deputy said we were slagging off all builders but that is not the case; he obviously cannot read the initial part of the text. There are many good builders, architects and engineers. The motion speaks about the inordinate influence of major developers and big business and that is the case. This was not just during the property bubble, there was a Labour Party Minister for the Environment a year after the Stardust tragedy and the party remained in power for years afterwards and did nothing because the industry resisted changes. That resistance still exists.

We must acknowledge the pyrite issue. Pyrite could have been avoided. The knowledge existed that it was a problem and it should have been tested but was not. There is recognition from the State that standards were not good enough. How do we know? Because the Government has changed the standards. The problem is, however, that the changes are not good enough either. I do not say that lightly. The new standard the Government brought in was based on advice from the aggregates panel, particularly the concrete industry. Who are these people? There are seven of them on the panel and five come from the concrete industry, from Roadstone, Kilsaran, Irish Cement and the Irish Concrete Federation. Two of those organisations are known to have quarries with heave inducing pyrite and these were the people who decided what the new standard would be. On foot of their deliberations the new Irish standard is unacceptable to Premier Insurance, which would not insure property built on infill based on that standard because it is not deemed to be good enough because standards are less stringent than those in Britain for sulphur content likely to lead to pyrite-induced heave.

Despite all that has happened, the Minister is leaving it to the quarries to decide what is fit for purpose. The only recourse people have now from that is under the Sale of Goods Act after the fact. When the house has fallen down and someone's life is in tatters, he can consider litigation to go after the quarry owner to try and get the money back. It is absolute and utter nonsense. The regulations must be changed to protect homeowners. There must be mandatory testing.

There is a similar situation with fire safety which, in many ways, is of even greater concern. Deputy Higgins made the point last night about the potential serious loss of life that would have existed in the development in Holywell in Swords had the fire taken place while people were in bed. Luckily it did not. Fingal County Council has a major report that documents a litany of problems jeopardising fire safety in this area. Mr. Noel Manning, the independent fire inspector, shows in graphic detail photographs of failed cavity barriers that had been tested and certified that were lying on the ground, failed party wall at eaves' level and that had been certified as compliant when they were not in reality. It goes on and on.

We will have a scenario where fatalities will occur unless the Government does what is called for in the second part of this motion and carries out a systemic and thorough inspection regime across the State to detect fire hazards as a result of inadequate regulation and non-compliance. The Government must undertake this. Why should people like the young woman who emailed me three weeks ago bear the cost of that? Why should the victims pay the costs? Unless these works are done there will be a serious social problem and the Government must address that point and carry out those works.

The key point remaining relates to the State's responsibility. No one is saying the Government built these houses or is responsible, no more than society took an active interest in the scandalous abuse cases involving the Catholic Church, when the State stepped in and admitted partial responsibility because it stood idly by. It set up a trust fund in that case because the starting point was the victims had to be assisted. Deputy Mathews made the point last night that the safety of residents and remedial work being carried out had to be the starting point in these deliberations. Then it is time to chase the money, to go after the developers, quarry owners, banks and insurance companies.

We know from questions asked by Deputy Catherine Murphy that there is almost €1 billion in development levies in local authority bank accounts, money they are not allowed to use or invest. That money, particularly where those levies relate to estates that have heave-inducing pyrite and other problems should have that money invested in a remedial programme of public works to make good those houses. We have the €2 billion promised by NAMA to invest in capital projects. What better work to be done than to fix these houses? Unless the State takes the lead in this, it will not happen and these people will not get justice.

There is a precedent and the interests of the homeowner must come first. Some Deputies have a neck to talk about this motion being premature, when people have been grappling with this issue for years. It is an insult to talk like that. The Minister's proposals are completely inadequate to deal with this situation. The State is responsible and must take a lead and would provide a beneficial stimulus. For every €1 billion invested in construction,10,000 jobs would be generated. Many people would benefit from that and the work would be carried out.

I note the points of concern about constituents - some of them more convincing than others - expressed by Government Deputies. They are in power now, however, and it is up to them. It is the case that blame lies with Fianna Fáil and the Galway tent when demonstrating the inordinate influence of major developers and big builders on policy in this State but this Government is now holding the reins and will be judged on how it deals with this systemic crisis. That must start not with words or the waffle in the new building regulations, which will not address the issue, but with the restoration of an independent building inspectorate that carries out 100% checks on works and with the Government taking responsibility for the victims of this crisis and immediately engaging in a State-led programme of remedial works and inspection to undo the damage that has been done. Nothing else will do. These people will not go away until these issues are resolved. Sadly, this will not be the last time we will discuss this issue but I am glad it has been raised. We will return to it in the months ahead.

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