Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister made a claim that this scheme will provide 100% redress for homeowners. That is not true on the basis of the current framing of the scheme. That is the case because the costings underpinning the scheme, on the basis of the legislation in front of us, were made by the SCSI in January, and the terms of reference were made by the Minister and the Department, not the SCSI. Unless this amendment is passed and unless the Minister requests the SCSI to update those costings in advance of the opening of the enhanced scheme and revises the terms of reference and includes the option of foundations, then when the scheme opens, what will be on offer will be very far from 100% redress.

A concrete example was given to the joint committee by Ms Martina Hegarty from the North Mayo Pyrite Group when she described a very modest-sized 90 sq. m home. She outlined how, on the basis of the current costings from the SCSI report and the expert panel's recommendations on the implementation of that, it would give her a grant size of somewhere between - the Minister should note this important information - €160,000 to €170,000. The costings she is getting from contractors in her county at the moment place the costs of the remediation and replacement of that dwelling now at €20,000, €30,000 and €40,000 above what the level of the grant. In order for Martina Hegarty and many other affected homeowners like her to rebuild their homes on a like-for-like basis, it is not 100% redress.

If the Minister accepts this amendment, it will send a clear signal to the SCSI to start undertaking the relevant work. Its representatives spoke to us at committee and said they would need approximately three months to carry it out. It would also send a clear signal that the Minister would also consider amending the terms of reference. Why is that important? If the Minister does not include foundations in the costings now, when this scheme opens, he cannot review those costings for another year. As he mentioned earlier, even if the NSAI completes its work in respect of foundations early next year, there would be no review of the costings until 12 months after the commencement of the Act. As a result, it is absolutely crucial to update the costings and provide a comprehensive range of options in order that if and when the Minister amends the scheme by the way of regulation, all the costings will have been calculated, in place and up to date and will bring people closer to 100% redress, which is not provided under the scheme as it stands.

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