Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand the anger and frustration felt by many families in respect of watching their homes literally crumble after having spent their life savings building them. The Government is going to respond to this issue. We do not have a final report from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage yet, but we will have it in the coming weeks. It is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Government more generally to decide how we plan for that in the context of the budget. I am not going to speak in detail about the budget today because it would not be appropriate to do so.

We have gone through a process here as a Government. Many Ministers have visited Donegal and the other counties impacted by the mica issue. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is taking this matter incredibly seriously. The financial package that will be put together and approved by the Government in time will be one of the largest financial support packages ever announced in respect of anything. We need to get it right and we need to listen to people. We have tried to listen and take on board different views. The letters sent to the Opposition spokespeople asking them for their input represent a genuine effort to try to get all-party consensus in terms of how we can provide a financial support package for the families involved.

The Deputy can dismiss that as a PR exercise if he wants. If you are going bring to Government a package involving the kind of expenditure that I expect we will see in the coming weeks, then you try to build consensus around that, if you can, in order that the issue involved does not become an unnecessary point of political contention. I have heard many Deputies speak about mica - on both sides. There are equally strong feelings on both sides of this House in respect of this matter. Nobody here has a monopoly on wisdom or of compassion for the families that have had their lives turned upside down by the mica crisis they are facing in their homes.

My understanding is that it is unlikely that a package will be brought to Government in respect of this matter before the budget. I understand that it is probably a few weeks away yet. I assure the Deputy that this is something the Government has committed to dealing with head-on, working with the families, communities and the Opposition parties, in order to try to ensure that we will get what will be a hugely expensive but necessary support package for the families and individuals impacted by the mica crisis. I do not have an exact date for the Deputy, but we will approve that package in the next few weeks. However, people will not have to wait too much longer to see the detail of that package.

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