Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this day and all the speakers. Regardless of politics, everyone has the opportunity to speak. As a rule, I do not prepare a speech and read it out but I do not want to make a mess of what I want to say. This issue has been ongoing for four or five years. I take on board what has been said across the Chamber. Three years ago, I got involved in helping out two families in County Meath to get their houses fixed. Two and half years ago, people tried to shut me up when I was in opposition and I tried to raise the issue of millions of euro being spent on court cases. I got involved with two companies and, instead of fighting it out in court, I got the companies together and the 700 houses are fixed and will be finished in October. I worked on that basis to get where we are today and I am glad Minister said it will be resolved in ten days. In some ways, that is ten days too long but I guarantee it will be done.

I welcome the statement made by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, at the beginning of this debate. I acknowledge the active commitment of the Minister and the Government in charting a way forward to a solution to this problem, which has brought misery to the lives of so many decent people who are citizens of our Republic. The pyrite problem happened on the previous Government's watch and it did nothing about it, even though the problems were staring it in the face. This Government took it on. The Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, set up the pyrite review panel under an independent chairman and with a clear mandate and resources. I commend the work done by up the panel, under its excellent chairman, Mr. Brendan Tuohy. The report set out a roadmap for the remediation of the issue of pyrite in private dwellings. The panel made it clear those with direct or indirect responsibility for the pyrite problem should bear the cost.

I welcome the Minister's commitment to getting Cabinet approval for setting up a pyrite resolution board and, if necessary, a compulsory levy. I call on the stakeholders - quarries, builders, insurance companies, lending institutions and HomeBond - to make a voluntary contribution to the creation and operation of a remediation fund. Having had extensive contacts with HomeBond in recent weeks, I am satisfied it is committed to making its extensive expertise in the area available to the remediation process. In the case of the other stakeholders, their contribution must be, and will be, financial.

The pyrite resolution board needs a strong independent chairperson with deep knowledge and experience of the issue and credibility with the stakeholders. The resolution board should include fully mandated representatives of the various stakeholders - builders, developers, subcontractors, quarries, insurance companies, financial institutions, HomeBond and the citizens affected. From my contacts with them, I am sure the stakeholders will participate fully. The remediation board will differ from the earlier pyrite review panel in that its mandate will be to actively progress a programme of remediation based on, but beyond, the scoping work and analysis of the issue done by the review panel. A new pyrite czar, chairing the pyrite resolution board, must have the total support of the Minister and Government to provide leadership and focus to the remediation programme and, if necessary, to knock heads together to break any logjam and push on to a resolution for everyone affected.

With a fund established and cash flow over the next three or four years, which should be started immediately, we can deliver on remediation for the three categories of dwellings identified by Mr. Brendan Tuohy and his team on the pyrite review panel - immediate priority, intermediate and latter stages. No one group or industry is capable of resolving this issue on its own. It is a major undertaking and no one should be in any doubt about it. My involvement and experience with this issue in my county, Meath, over the past four or five years in helping to get estates fixed and helping to resolve the major Menolly Homes and Lagan case has led me to believe that a voluntary approach, within a defined framework, will achieve the outcome we want. It is ridiculous to burn millions of euro, as was the case, in legal fees and costs in court cases that drag on for years while the problem in people's homes gets worse. I could not believe the final figure in one of the cases.

Having spent the period since the publication of the pyrite review panel meeting with stakeholders, with the knowledge of the Minister, together with my involvement with this problem over the past five years, I am confident the various stakeholders are prepared to work together to put a workable remediation programme into action, provided they are clear that no sector will carry an undue or unfair burden under the programme. However, if certain people or institutions continue to ignore the legitimate aspiration to a safe, secure home of people paying their mortgages, the choice left to the citizens will be stark. The people of Ireland, at enormous personal cost, have been supporting the financial institutions. Now is the time for the institutions, in return, to take part and contribute to a resolution of the pyrite issue.

The panel did not consider that the State was responsible for causing the pyrite problem and therefore should not be liable for the costs associated with remediation. The report clearly stated that those parties with direct or indirect responsibility for the pyrite problem should bear the cost of remediation. Among the groups identified were builders, subcontractors, developers, material suppliers and insurers. I want to acknowledge everybody in the Visitors Gallery today for their commitment and determination to get this problem fixed. I acknowledge the support from party colleagues and, in particular, Deputies Catherine Murphy, Clare Daly and Dessie Ellis for working with me in a positive and constructive way. The pyrite review panel has done the State some service by giving us an excellent report pointing the road to a solution. Today, we take our first big steps along that road. We it owe to them, and to the thousands of families whose lives have been devastated by pyrite, to turn the report into action.

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