Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak for three minutes and allow the Minister of State a minute to respond. He will know that there are many thousands of homeowner families across the State who have been devastated by a range of serious latent defects in their homes, from the pyrite crisis in Dublin and north Leinster to the scandal of Priory Hall and the mica and pyrite problems in Donegal and Mayo, as well as the fire safety and structural defects discovered in homes all across the State. We have resolution schemes for pyrite and for the Priory Hall residents. Today, I want to talk in detail about the mica and pyrite resolution schemes for Donegal and Mayo and call on the Minister of State to outline what he is doing for all the families in the State affected by latent defects. It is devastating for all of them and we need solutions in all cases.

In my county of Donegal, thousands of families have been absolutely devastated. I have been in homes where people have been in tears. They are destroyed because their family homes, their wee castles to which they look for security, is literally crumbling around them. People have had to move out of their homes and we are talking about thousands of homeowners. They have waited for years for a resolution and there has been a long campaign led by the Mica Action Group in Donegal. That campaign is related closely to the campaign in Mayo and the two schemes are linked.

As I said, I want the Minister of State to spell out clearly today what he is doing for all the families affected by latent defects. In the case of Donegal, we need to know when a scheme is going to start. When can people bring engineers from the engineers panel out to their homes to assess the damage and see what needs to be done to make their homes safe so they can start to plan for the future and start to breathe again? When will that commence and when will people be able to draw down the funds?

Finally, the scheme that has been announced will be 90% funded. If we are talking about a home that will cost €250 million to completely rebuild, refurbish, put in furnishings and so on, 10% is a lot of money for people to find. There is also the cost of accommodation rental and storage of household goods during the long period of construction and refurbishment. It is a huge amount of money for the families who have waited all these years. Will the Minister of State reconsider the 90% limit or, alternatively, will he engage robustly with the banks, which still own many of these properties and assets and will benefit hugely from the scheme, so that they step up and make up the 10%?

I await the Minister of State's responses with anticipation.

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