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

On behalf of the Green Party, I extend our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and party colleagues of the late Manus Kelly.

I noted with interest last week that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, was quoted as saying the Government needed to do more consumer protection work to protect people who were living in apartments with building defects and that much more work needed to be done to deal with such defects. I know that the Taoiseach is familiar with this issue. When I raised it previously, he said many homeowners in his constituency, like my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, were facing substantial bills due to defects. Will the comments of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, on the defects signal a move by the Government to examine possible supports for the homeowners affected? Two years ago this month, a Green Party motion calling for assistance to be given to homeowners was passed unanimously by the Dáil. A year and a half has passed since the publication of the Safe as Houses report which made a similar call for relief to be provided. Will the Taoiseach tell me whether the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has discussed the issue with him since he made his comments last week?

See this speech in context