Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have spoken to people in my constituency who been unfortunate to have come across pyrite in their homes. We are all aware that it is not just about devastation to buildings, but also about devastation to people's lives. Tens of thousands of home owners are suffering the agony of having their homes either disintegrate around them from pyrite-induced heave or because they have become serious fire hazards in consequence. In my part of the constituency, three estates are seriously affected - two in Ashbourne and one in Dunshaughlin. The people living in such houses are innocent victims who bought what they believed were beautiful homes. During the property bubble they found themselves paying exorbitant prices for them. They must now cope with the stress of trying to meet those often unsustainable mortgage payments while their crumbling homes are either in serious negative equity or in most cases worthless.

Most people now know that pyrite affects a house by cracking walls, rising floors and doors jamming. However, there are also unseen effects, such as the effects on water, gas and sewerage. Some people in my constituency are living in fear of the possibility of gas leaking or exploding in their houses as they go to bed at night. These are not things people should have to worry about in houses that are only seven or eight years old.

I do not want to mince my words. The complete inaction by those responsible to resolve this situation in recent years has been nothing short of a disgrace. The builders, the quarries, the insurance companies concerned and the vast majority of stakeholders involved have walked away from the issue, disowning the householders and leaving them to face this disastrous legacy completely on their own. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, said today that empathy and sympathy are not sufficient and that what is required is action. We would all agree that emergency intervention is now needed. These people need the necessary work done to rectify their homes. These are not investment houses for most people but homes where families are rearing their children. We need a mandatory levy on the construction and quarry industries to pay for the damage done.

There is a small upside to this proposal as it would create an estimated €1 billion worth of work for the depressed construction industry and could create 10,000 to 14,000 badly needed construction jobs.

It is time the funding to commence the remediation works was provided. Following this, a levy should be placed on the construction industry, which would be a fair apportioning of the blame and responsibility for this issue. Obviously, such levy would have to be long term and mandatory so that it does not crucify the industry in the short term. Financing of the remedial works in this manner is the only way of fixing this problem given our current economic situation.

The recent pyrite report was critical of the stakeholders, including the construction, insurance and banking sectors, for their complete reluctance to engage with home owners. The report contains approximately 24 recommendations, including that stakeholders should fund the cost of the repairs, that a resolution board be established, that certification be developed for homes affected by pyrite and that the insurance industry should not penalise home owners in estates where pyrite is identified. Nothing much has been done to date in terms of implementation of those recommendations. The time has come for all involved to step up to the plate. This is crunch time. Those involved need to come together and provide the reparation services or, as stated earlier by the Minister, Deputy Hogan, the Government will be forced to make them do so.

Given the building control fiascos that continue to unfold, I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Hogan, on his announcement today that current building regulations, which have allowed dodgy developers to flourish, are to be replaced with a new tough policing regime. This Government is finalising the new building control legislation which will ensure standard regulations are met. The industry has relied on self-certification in terms of architects, engineers, surveyors and builders certifying that new buildings comply with statutory regulatory requirements. That light touch regulatory regime introduced in 1990 by the then Minister, Pádraig Flynn, is outdated and needs to be changed. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Hogan, on doing so.

There are moral and legal responsibilities involved. It is well past time the issues of responsibility and low standards were tackled so as to prevent this type of fiasco occurring again. We cannot change the past but can help the people involved to move on to a safer future, which is the very least they deserve.

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