Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Mac Lochlainn raised the issue that he raised yesterday. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, about this and I believe that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is meeting the group shortly, having invited them in February, when he met them, to make a submission which he got at the end of April. It is important to say that the Government has responded strongly to the mica issue in Donegal with the allocation of substantial funding. Grants are available under the five remedial options, from €49,500 to €247,500, and approximately €20 million is available for that in 2021. With thousands of homes affected, the State has committed approximately €1 billion to this scheme between now and 2030. That is a substantial commitment by the State and needs to be acknowledged. The Minister will engage on the broader issue in the submission. As the Deputy said, grant levels in the scheme that was developed were initially capped at 90% of estimated costs depending on the remediation option chosen, and vary from €49,000 to €247,000, as I said.

The average cost in the east coast pyrite scheme is less than €70,000 per home. The defective concrete blocks grant scheme in counties Donegal and Mayo is likely to be at least double that, which will mean a far more substantial allocation to each home in Donegal than for the pyrite situation. They are not comparable and I do not think the Deputy is comparing like with like. That said, the Minister will engage with the group representing households and is examining the submission that has been made. There are issues that genuinely have to be explored with the group and representatives across the board. As the Deputy knows, much work was done prior to the Government being formed, with expert panels established and so on, that led to the creation of the scheme. There is ongoing work with groups representing the householders affected prior to the design of the scheme itself. I do not think we are comparing like with like with the two schemes.

Deputy Kelly raised the issue of An Bord Pleanála. We need more resources for An Bord Pleanála and we need to look at the overall planning situation. A planning court has been mooted, for example, and we have to consider developing that. We need a more streamlined, effective, resilient and robust to challenge planning system.

Deputy Paul Murphy raised issues with regard to the funds. Government is in hock to nobody and has no agenda in promoting any particular group in society, whether it is a fund or whatever else. The only objective is to get houses and apartments built and to get a variety of housing and apartments for home ownership, social housing, affordable housing and cost rental.

There will be a market for rental and a market for home ownership. Government has initiated a whole range of proposals, all of which the Deputies have opposed. I refer to the affordable housing Bill, the shared equity scheme and the Land Development Agency Bill 2021, all of which will provide housing. All of the Deputies seem to be against mixed housing developments. This morning the Minister turned the sod on a mixed development scheme of 1,200 houses. It was held up for years because of opposition on the ground. People need houses, however. People need social houses and people need to be in a position to buy houses and apartments.

We support families, young people and people generally being in a position to afford an apartment but there is an issue with viability with regard to building apartments for sale, particularly in Dublin. The country needs capital to develop some of these markets. Capital has to be there. Government will not be able to build all of the 40,000 houses required every year. The ESRI states that 33,000 will be needed but, given the impact of Covid-19 last year and this year, I believe that a higher figure could be required for the next while. Government will not be in a position to provide all of that housing. We will need capital to provide some of it. Apartments for rent will be particularly needed. If we took some of the initiatives the Deputies suggest, the number of apartments would be reduced, which would put a further squeeze on people's capacity to buy apartments. What is being proposed on the other side is not coherent or logical.

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