Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá an scannal mica go fóill ag tarlú agus teaghlaigh agus úinéir tí ag fanacht le scéal. Thug an Rialtas gealltanas dóibh i mí an Mheithimh go mbeidh cúiteamh 100% le fáil acu. Táimid i lár mhí Mheán Fómhair agus níl soiléiriú ar bith faighte acu. On 15 June, thousands of homeowners and families affected by the mica and pyrites scandal travelled to Leinster House and Government Buildings. They sent out a clear message that they will not be forgotten. On the same day, this House passed a motion brought by Sinn Féin on behalf of those families and homeowners. The motion noted the existence of the existing scheme that was unfit for purpose and called on the Government to introduce a 100% redress scheme for those affected by defective blocks. It also called on the Government to ensure those responsible are held to account and that the industry should contribute to the overall cost of remediation. The motion was unanimously agreed to by this House. In response, the Minister with responsibility for housing set up a working group to review and address the issues with the existing failed scheme. That working group was given a six-week deadline to report by the end of July. That deadline came and went, with the Minister giving the working group an extension until the end of this month.

Since that motion passed, the impact of the mica and pyrites scandal has continued to exact a heavy toll on families. Over the summer, several families have watched as their homes have been demolished. One of those, the Price family in Inishowen, saw their home reduced to rubble by a digger. The home of Donna and Mike, and her three children, aged 19, 13 and 9 years, is no longer standing. Others continue to live in the conditions that put them and their children at risk with walls and ceiling crumbling around them. Many of them have shared their lived experience of how this scandal has not only damaged the bricks and mortar of their homes, but has also placed a heavy toll on their mental health and relationships. They cannot be allowed to wait any longer. They are victims of self-regulation, no-regulation and light-touch regulation regimes. They are like the thousands of families and homeowners who live or lived with dangerous fire safety or structural defects. Regimes created by successive Governments are more interested in the wishes of developers than the safety of homeowners and tenants.

The existing defective block redress scheme is not fit for purpose; that is clear. In some cases, the remaining costs are more than €100,000, which is the equivalent of a second mortgage for many families. Affected homeowners, their families and children in Donegal and Mayo and other counties deserve equality with the scheme that was rolled out prior to this one for homes affected by pyrites in Dublin and north Leinster. That is not just the will of the families. That is the will of this House as per the motion that was passed on this issue on 15 June, three months ago.

Will the Tánaiste work with the representatives of the families from The Mica Action Group to deliver 100% redress? Will he tell us if he is personally committed to 100% redress? The Tánaiste will recall in 2008, he travelled to Donegal and had the opportunity to meet with the action group and see the impact on homes. At that time, he told affected families, rightly, that they deserved equality with the pyrite scheme. He said that is fair. Three years on, they do not have equality. Three years on, families like Donna's see diggers rip into their homes where their dreams and memories of raising their children and family are torn into rubble. Will the Tánaiste commit to those words today? Will he lift the burden off so many families? Will he commit to establishing 100% redress for homeowners and families in Donegal, Mayo and other counties who are seeing their homes crumble before their eyes?

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