Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Crowe. Some of the very important issues he raised are outside the remit of the answer I have been able to give him. I know the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will be well aware of the issues raised by the Deputy on behalf of his constituents. I will engage with the Minister, as the Deputy has been doing. The Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021, which will be in front of the House next week, is trying to be a nationwide scheme. It needs to be a nationwide scheme because it is a tax measure. Because of that, the access to the scheme needs to be very clear, simple and definitive, which is why access to the grant block scheme is the way in which we have designed the access criteria.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He has acknowledged that the figures and costs involved in this are huge. Equally, however, the harm, anxiety and damage that has been caused by the presence of pyrite is equally huge. The working group that is being led by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will be working hard to come forward with comprehensive proposals in the coming weeks to respond to the issues raised by Deputy Crowe.

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