Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I find it extraordinary and very worrying that the Minister has put in these conditions. When it was confirmed with the campaigning families in Donegal that at long last, after years and years, they were going to be exempt from the property tax, they said it was a positive gesture, but there are more substantive issues. I note the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, is present. I refer to the 100% redress and all of the other imbalances between the scheme that was rightly made available to the campaigning families in Dublin and Leinster after a long campaign but was not extended to Donegal and Mayo.

Let us talk about the defective concrete blocks grant scheme. Under the scheme, one has to source an engineer who takes a core extraction from the house. The sample is sent away to be tested in a laboratory and after it has been analysed, an engineering recommendation is made to Donegal County Council in the case of houses in Donegal. The cost ranges from €5,000 to €7,000. Those costs were rightly taken care of in the pyrite remediation scheme by the Pyrite Resolution Board. People face a charge of between €5,000 and €7,000.

The local property tax is a self-assessment tax. An individual is responsible for assessing the value of his or her home. Surely to God these amendments are entirely reasonable. People would declare that they believe their home to be affected by mica in Donegal or pyrite in Mayo. That means their home cannot be insured. That is not something people want to do, and it is not something anyone would happily or readily do. It is a big declaration to make. We are saying that if a person self-declares that his or her home is impacted by this, he or she should not be liable for the property tax. That is only fair that it would be the case.

People are really hurting in Donegal and Mayo. People are also hurting in counties Clare and Sligo, who are not yet able to benefit from the scheme. They have been failed by the State in its oversight responsibilities and in more recent years in market surveillance. The concrete block is the core component of the family home in the vast majority of houses in this State. I cannot think of a more important item that a person or a builder could purchase than concrete blocks to build a home. Is there a more important purchase? Could there have been a more important product that the State was ensuring was built to the best possible standard? We abandoned people to self-regulation, light-touch regulation and no regulation. The State abandoned people and failed them. After years of campaigning, it put in place a scheme for families in Dublin. The scheme is not perfect, but it is a scheme they were entitled to. After years in Donegal and following an independent expert panel report we ended up with the present scheme. I know the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has probably advised the Minister for Finance that the working group is going to advance these issues. That is welcome if it happens, but what we need is a 100% fully funded scheme. We need rents to be covered while people are out of their home. We need the upfront costs to be covered. If the advice is to remove the outer leaf of a house and that goes wrong, people must have a State guarantee on it. Fundamentally, we need a fully-funded scheme. I am pleased both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage are present. The Minister must accept the amendment tabled by Deputy Doherty and me. It is the least he can do. It would be a positive gesture that we trust people to visually self-assess that their home is impacted and that they will be exempt from the property tax. That would be a positive signal if the Minister could do that.

I appeal to both Ministers present, and also to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath. This is perfect. The three Ministers, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage are present. I am sure every other Member of this House will join me in this. We appeal to them to put in place a fully funded scheme to make up for the years of State failure, to get these families moving forward. I appeal that we would do that together in a positive way. The deadline is 31 July. If we get to that with really good news, I hope we can come back in September. It starts tonight. It is a positive signal if the Minister accepts the amendment. It is a common-sense amendment and I trust the Minister will do it. He will do what is right up until 31 July and then the State will make some recompense to all of those families that were failed over the years.

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