Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is a deep appreciation within the Government of how serious this issue is and the life-changing nature of this issue for the families who are affected by mica in Donegal, Mayo and a number of other counties where the issue has now emerged. That is why the Government has put in place a process to try to bring about a resolution to this matter. I have listened to the heartfelt stories from the families who have impacted upon. I can only imagine what they are going through and the worry they are having to carry every single day. The main point I want to make is that everything is on the table. The Government has ruled out nothing in the context of what will be needed to support those families. As the Deputy is aware, a scheme is up and running, which was broadly welcomed when the details were announced in January of last year. The scheme opened for applications in June of last year and a significant number of applications have come in. However, the shortcomings of that scheme have also been highlighted. It is important to acknowledge that the scheme was put in place in good faith by the previous Government and was a genuine effort to address an issue which is so important for many thousands of families.

The work of the working group that was set up by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is ongoing. As the Deputy rightly stated, the families impacted have made a submission as of last Friday to that working group. Earlier in the summer there was a request by the impacted householders for the work of the working group to be extended until the end of September, and that was agreed by the Minister. That is the timeline we are working to. The working group will now consider the submission from the householders who were affected and the Minister intends to accept the report from the working group by the end of this month, which essentially is at a point next week. He will then consider that, discuss it across Government and come to a view as to what we can do quickly to support those families. I, my Department and the whole of Government stand ready to assist in every way we can.

This is an issue the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, has raised on many occasions at Cabinet and the Deputies from within the Government parties from the affected counties have been raising it consistently as well. I acknowledge that Deputy Mac Lochlainn and his colleagues have done the same. We are all on the same side here. We want to get an outcome that works for the householders who have been affected. To date, there has been an exemption for them from the local property tax, which is a very small measure, but it is an important symbol and a statement of support from the Government. Last night in the House, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, gave a commitment that he will take up the issue with the banks to see what role they can play in supporting an overall resolution to this problem. Issues such as rent, storage costs and so on, which have been raised by all the families, are all on the table. We have a process in place. We are not standing idly by. We are committed to working with the impacted householders to address this. Of course, we need to have checks and balances and certain controls in place. I do not believe people should be passing judgment in advance as to the nature of those before hearing what the Government has to say. We have to come to a considered view once we have all the information on the table. I expect we will have that very shortly. We look forward to bringing forward a proposal that I expect will represent a significant enhancement of and improvement to the existing scheme for the impacted householders.

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