Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We need to acknowledge the people from counties Donegal and Mayo and other areas who came today. People power has spoken. It needs to be addressed straight away. Buying a house is probably one of the biggest investments in a person's life. To be paying a mortgage and then having to pay rent because one's house is falling apart is intolerable. There is an opportunity here for the Government, which should address the situation. I have seen this figure of €1 billion. The Government is not afraid to spend €3 billion in a hospital, where there does not seem to be any accountancy going on. The same company will bring the Government to court again and pull another bill out of it, because that is the way the contract was done.

However, these vulnerable people in these counties have been left high and dry. I saw it in County Mayo a few years ago. It is an intolerable situation. There are companies out there, some of which I know in Dublin, which sold the product. All of these companies are large operators which sold product. They had to have product insurance whether they like it or not. Some of them folded but there still had to be insurance there. The State should go after them when all this is over.

The State should look after ordinary people on the ground and make sure they are secure in their homes and that everything is sorted but should then go after these guys. I have seen some of the guys, who have been involved in this pyrite situation, reporting others about tar plants and so on, because they are trying to have monopolies. Monopolies should not be tolerated in this country. These guys who are at that should not be. The people of Ireland will not stand for what is going on. There was insurance at the time, whether it is ten or 15 years ago. The Government needs to go after them, to make sure it gets the money out of it because insurance companies are, once again, walking away scot-free.

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