Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This week, individual citizens and families in my constituency have become the latest innocent victims of being forced to face the fallout, living nightmare and financial upset of learning that their dream homes have been severely blighted by inept, incompetent, greed-driven building standards that were not properly regulated by the State. There is a duty on Government to protect its people against incompetent rogue cowboy builders. This duty extends to tidying up, once and for all, the mess and the shoddy workmanship that is allowed to go on unchecked and unregulated. Despite numerous reported debacles since Priory Hall, this Government has still not acted to secure a remedy for people whose homes have been proven to have been built in a defective way. Where is the remedy? What redress and tangible support do these hardworking people have when they discover major defects in their homes? In many cases, the builders and developers have gone bust. However, our forgiving corporate insolvency laws allow them to return to the workforce. They are given a second chance and a fresh start, but the individual citizens who do not enjoy the protection of the corporate veil are abandoned. There are still no adequate statutory remedy or supports in place for many people who find themselves in this situation. There is lots of talk but no concrete action for thousands of people who are enduring this living hell.

Will the Taoiseach undertake a review of the causes of housing failures that have come to light in recent years? Will he set out a strategy for dealing with housing defects to include statutory protection for home buyers supported by comprehensive mandatory defects insurance for all dwellings? Will he please explain to the House why the only law reform in this area introduced since Priory Hall is changes to building control, with zero new remedies for consumers, no regulatory body for contractors and no dispute resolution scheme for the people of this country when defects emerge in their homes?

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