Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to advocate for this Bill put forward by my party on what can only be described as a horrid situation for any homeowner to suffer. Locally, the Clare Pyrite-Mica Action Group gathered and protested in Ennis yesterday. I attended that protest and spoke to some of the people who have been affected by defective blocks. They have literally watched their homes and sense of future, security and shelter crumble before their eyes over the past few years because of light-touch regulations during the construction boom. I commend the chairperson, Dr. Martina Cleary, and all the members, who even in their despair mobilised themselves and did great work on this issue, including during the restrictions which must also be noted.

These people, whose hard-earned money was invested into their homes, have been denied any clarity about who, if anyone, will accept responsibility for the State-sponsored shoddy workmanship that has led to nationwide scandal. In my county of Clare, a relatively small initial sample of only five houses were tested and have proven that it is pyrite. Even more worrying is the fact that the initial sample included homes scattered at five far-flung locations across the county, which has led people to suspect that the issue is widespread and far-reaching. That is five, however, when we know that more than 50 households have come forward. These houses were built between 1981 and 2007. Since then, we know that 55 houses have been logged as having defective blocks. A further 35 have more recently been identified.

Let us consider the backdrop against which these constituents' concerns were rising. The initial scheme, which included only homeowners in counties Donegal and Mayo, was only offering 90% of redress costs. It has come to light that they are not even receiving the 90% and are burdened with, in some cases, up to 30% of the cost. This is absolute madness, especially considering that this was not the experience for those homeowners on the east. The Government in Dublin simply has not been listening and has not been getting the message.

On closer inspection, the scheme is not fit for purpose. The scheme, in its current form, excludes the most vulnerable homeowners impacted as it expects homeowners to be able to come up with 10% of the overall reconstruction costs from the outset. These homeowners bought or built their homes in good faith and should not be liable for the cost of remediation caused by the incompetency, negligence or deliberate non-compliance of others, end of story.

Imagine having invested your life savings in a big, beautiful house at the tail end of the Celtic tiger and taking out a mammoth mortgage to secure this forever home. Now, imagine the walls are starting to fall down around you ten years down the line. Imagine having to move out because this building, the very security of a roof over one's head, is no longer safe to raise a family in, and when we are in the midst of a housing crisis. Imagine one's county is not even included in the approved areas that will be able to recoup the devastating cost of this structural damage. Not only will they have to fight tooth and nail for recognition that their home is actually part of a much wider network of buildings that need significant reconstruction, they are also being asked to come up with 10% of the overall cost on top of their mortgage repayments for a building they technically cannot even occupy. That is on top of the rental of an alternate premises.

Sinn Féin's Bill, on the other hand, is putting forward policy that will offer 100% redress for all homeowners of defective block houses, regardless of location, without the unrealistic expectation of them to come up with some of the cost themselves. Homeowners are not to blame and should not be footing even part of the Bill.

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