Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A considerable amount has been said and I can do nothing but agree with it. This matter is straightforward, as many of my colleagues said earlier. We all accept the major difficulties with building regulation. We all know people who have fallen foul of the lack of both regulation and redress. We need to facilitate those who are being impacted by the travesty and tragedy of mica, and 100% redress is the only thing that can deliver in that regard.

We all know how much people strive and struggle to get a home together. With all the regular difficulties with cost-of-living problems and everything else, when a house is built, people at least expect that the structure will remain sound, but that has not been the case. As many, including Deputy Ó Laoghaire, stated, this was through no fault of their own. That needs to be taken into account. We need to make sure that this does not happen again, that there is redress and that we avoid these situations.

I echo what has already been said. It just does not make sense for the register, the means of dealing with this problem, to fall within the remit of the CIF. It must be done in a more independent way. We need an entire process that works from beginning to end. It needs to be 100% independent and something we can absolutely rely upon. If we can ensure this is done to the maximum level, we will not have these difficulties in the future or if we have such difficulties, we will have the means to remedy them as quickly as possible. That is what needs to be done.

I wish to follow on from something my colleague said about certain local authority estates being built better than others. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about a number of very old housing estates and some social housing units in County Louth. There is an issue with the maintenance budgets. I have spoken to the Minister and to Louth County Council. It is now up to Louth County Council to put a proposal to Government on how to deal with these wider issues. I am talking specifically about Muirhevnamor and Cox's Demesne in Dundalk. About 15 years ago there was a promise of regeneration in Muirhevnamor. We all know that the money ran out during that period. Certain houses were slated to be fixed up - the equivalent of retrofitting back then. In some cases, it was deemed that houses needed to be knocked. None of this happened. We know the reasons. We are now in a different set of circumstances and we need to put a plan in place.

Some of it is happening with infill development, which is welcome once there is consultation with the residents. People accept the absolute necessity of getting houses built. Beyond that, we need to have an audit of some of these houses to see if retrofitting is possible, which it will be for many of them. However, some may need something far more substantial to be done. I await the outcome of my conversation with Louth County Council, which needs to put a proposal in writing to the Government.

The Minister of State and I have spoken about assessments. When he replies, I would like him to give a synopsis of whether that has been sorted or not.

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