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

When I visited Donegal last week, it was not a covert visit. The key focus of that was not only to visit a home, meet the Loftus family and see the appalling condition of their home but also to meet the action group, Donegal County Council and the chairperson of the mica action committee on Donegal County Council, Councillor Martin McDermott, who was in the group, to have a long and thorough meeting with them on the issues they wished to raise with me and with the Government in terms of getting this issue resolved. That was the purpose of the visit.

I had to do it in between meetings I had here and going to Fermanagh for the British-Irish Council. I changed my diary and schedule, which is no big deal, but I wanted to meet people. I believe in getting resolutions. I do not showboat on issues like this. I do not try to make political capital out of it. I have no interest in doing that because for the family owners, all that matters is whether they can build a home for their family and their children. That is what they wanted to do originally.

What happened was disgraceful. The supply of those defective blocks was a disgrace; end of story. I have no interest whatsoever in defending those who were responsible for this. I have an interest in getting the issue sorted.

The previous Government, in good faith, developed a scheme. It was welcomed broadly. It was welcomed by Sinn Féin at the time. Few parties or individuals in this House raised this until quite recently, if the truth be told. I looked at some of the manifestos. It does not even get a mention. It is not even mentioned in the Sinn Féin manifesto. People thought the scheme was okay.

When the scheme started being implemented or when applications started going in, it became known to the homeowners that the upfront costs were far too expensive. We will deal with the upfront costs. Anybody who cannot afford it should not have to pay €10,000 or €8,000 upfront to get an engineering report. We will deal with that. We should also deal with the rental issue but we also need to get a proper assessment. What was clear from the meeting was that there will be different solutions for different houses and for houses of different size. People want certain undertakings in respect of what happens if, in the case of a repair, subsequently the issue arises again. These are the kind of issues that need to be resolved.

I understand fully the anger of the homeowners. I understand what they want. It is now our job as the Government, in good faith and working with the group. The Minister has written to the group. He has spoken to them. He has put this idea to them. Let us have a time-limited engagement with homeowners' representatives, with the local authorities, with the Department officials and work through this so that we can improve this scheme in such a way that does not pose an excessive financial hardship on homeowners. That is, in good faith, what I am putting before the House today, what the Minister has put to the Mica Action Group and what we discussed at the meeting on Thursday last.

See this speech in context