Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in. I acknowledge that he has done a lot of hard work. Instead of everything being negative, it should be very positive going forward. These are family homes. Families want to get this situation sorted out and I believe the Minister will get this sorted out. Let us stop playing a political game of football. The most important thing is getting the houses built, getting the families back in and starting to move on.

It is very important that all people who are adversely affected by the defective material in their properties get redress. Everybody has to get redress. We do not know the full impact and the lack of the regulation of construction material in Ireland is not helping the situation. I believe all counties in Ireland are having problems and all should, automatically, be allowed the allocation of funding. I spoke to the Minister a few months ago with the county manager, Ms Joan Martin, in Dundalk. We believe there are at least ten to 15 people in the county who have this problem. The Minister told us that we had to put in a submission. I spoke to the county manager again today and I know that submission has not gone in yet. However, as I said to the Minister, it is about the families and the people. It is very important. Nobody is saying that only ten or 12 counties are affected. We all know that every county has a problem. Every county should be given an opportunity to get their family home back up and running.

I talk to people on the ground, like most Deputies here. People are very sceptical and worried because a house is a house. That includes the garage and patio. People are being told to leave the foundations or the patio. One cannot do that because, naturally, much of the material in these buildings is also part of the house. It is very important that these are all part of the compensation. I spoke to many people over the past number of years who have invested in private houses and have gotten involved in the rental market. As far as I am concerned, they have the same right as other people. If one looks at these houses, they are playing a big part in the market. Most of these houses are leased out to people or the council. It is very important that these people are looked after as well.

I used the words "nervous" and "worried". People are nervous and very worried. I ask the Minister to try to make it simple. In fairness, he does not complicate things. He just tries to say them as they are and that will be very important going forward. The biggest problem I hear in my constituency office is that when it comes to application forms, people are afraid of filling them in. They are afraid to look for grants because they do not understand the system.

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It is important that when people fill in the application form for the grant and put in whatever information they need, they be given a bit of scope in that. The last thing we want is for people to be refused because they did not fill the application form in correctly. It is important that the proper staff are working on this. They should talk to people and let them know what the situation is. People are panicking about getting the application in as quickly as possible and the timeframes. It was mentioned earlier that it all seems to be on the householder. It is important that the local authorities work closely with the person involved in the house.

Another big problem is that a lot of people are going together to look for engineering reports. It is very hard to get someone to put it down with paper and pen and people come looking for everything else. It is important that it is all done right. When people go into local authorities, the staff do not seem to know how much money they have to pay and they want to know how quickly they will get a response back on their applications. It is the same in politics - communication. Once people are communicated with and once they know what is happening, I do not see a serious problem. Many families are worried that someone might just knock on the door, come in and inspect the house. That is the last thing we want to do. I am not trying to be smart but these people are looking at their houses and seeing cracks in the walls and holes in the ceiling. People are house-proud and the last thing they want is someone coming to the house and knocking on the door with the family in the house and everything else. Kids are inquisitive and the last thing you want is for them to realise what is going on. I guarantee the Minister that a lot of people have not told their children exactly what is happening. They might tell them there is a new house coming. It is important that we try to get this done as soon as possible.

On the issue of foundations, the foundation of a house is like someone's life or body to them. The foundations have to go, end of story. You cannot just go in and build a house on top of deleterious material; it makes no sense whatsoever. It is very important that the foundations go.

We are talking about money, and it is important that we have the money in place so that when people start, they can get finished. The Minister is saying it is capped at €420,000 or €430,000 and it is important that money is available so that when people start doing the work, there will be a completion date coming up. There is no point in starting in January and finishing in January two years later. It is important that the money is there to finish the job. I know contractors will not be too happy to do the work unless they know the money is there.

We are having serious issues around the country with labour. I was trying to get an extension done on my house recently and I was told it would take four or five months for a simple job. Worst of all, when you go into a hardware shop to look for building material, it is nearly impossible to get it. They do not want to carry the stock because it is too expensive to carry it. There is an uncertainty about materials, labour and everything else and that is important going forward.

I mentioned Louth earlier but I ask the Minister to let the Twenty-six Counties in. The Louth county manager is active. It might not seem like a lot to include ten or 15 people but when you have your own home you should be treated the exact same as everybody else, and that is important going forward. I was in my home town of Dundalk during the week and I met a fellow who had to leave his home back in 2018. He had been living in that home with his wife since 1991 and they had a lot of great memories there. All of a sudden he saw cracks appearing from nowhere. He did not know what it was and all of a sudden the ceiling, walls and everything else were affected. In 2018, he had to physically take his wife and children out of the house. There was a problem and it was too dangerous to stay in the house but that poor wife spent 12 weeks in a centre suffering from depression. She had to leave the home that she spent the guts of 20 years building it up. People want to stay in their own homes, especially among the older generation. It is important going forward that we have a wee bit of sympathy for these people. These are their homes

I have dealt with the Minister on a number of different issues in recent weeks and he is approachable and he listens to people. I ask people to have a bit of trust in the Minister. This should not be made into a political football; it is serious. I heard another Deputy mention today that this would not be the first redress scheme and that more and more would be coming down the road. That is not fair. I know the Minister fought very hard to get the money together. The sooner we start, the better. I ask him to get it right and communicate with the people. These are family homes and if people want to downsize or upsize, they should have that option. It is important that people get their old homes into their new homes and try to get memories back as soon as possible. People just need to get their lives back together again. As an Independent Deputy, I trust him and when he says things, he does so passionately. I might get a bit of flak for supporting him but the reason I want to support him is that I know these people want to get their homes back and get their lives up and running. We have to show trust in the Minister. If he leads from the front, the people will get behind him. I look forward to working with him.

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