Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has tried to portray the State as a benevolent white knight that has stepped in despite not having any responsibility in this area. While our building regulations were on a par with those in place in Britain, the difference here was that they were not enforced and hard-pressed home owners were left holding the can.

I welcome the pyrite resolution scheme. I have worked well with the Pyrite Resolution Board and would like it to succeed in its work. I am concerned, however, about the Minister of State's statement that remediation works will commence on 280 properties this year. This will not be possible as the cost of the works will exceed the budget of €10 million allocated for 2015. Moreover, the proposed works do not even begin to address the exclusion from the scheme of thousands of home owners in south Dublin, Dublin city and counties Donegal and Mayo whose houses are falling down.

As the Minister of State may be aware, two commercial buildings on the north side of Dublin are being demolished because pyrite has been found in the block work. This is an extremely important issue and it is not good enough for the Minister of State to argue that it was someone else's fault and the State is stepping in as a last resort. The State has a responsibility in this regard and the Department must invest more resources and effort in resolving the problem because it will not go away.

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