Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. When the old scheme was mentioned I thought back to the fallout from the old scheme. The Minister is correct that it fell way short. Everybody knows that. That is history. I made a decision tonight on the second scheme based on my gut. It is not for the want of work on the part of the Minister and his officials to try to get it right. I honestly believe there is no such thing as a perfect scheme for a scheme of this magnitude. However, I believe this scheme falls short on a number of fronts. It falls short for people in terms of accessibility and affordability. In my consultation and engagement with the Minister through the last few weeks he has been honourable and has kept an open line. I am asking this of the Minister tonight because I feel I have not achieved what I wanted to achieve on behalf of the constituents I represent, many of whom are here tonight and many of whom are at home, still trying to figure out how they are going to enter the scheme. I voted against this and I will be voting against it all the way through.

This is not over. It is not over for the people. We still have to figure out a way to try to make this scheme better for people. I am talking in particular about people who are of my generation or a little older who will find it hard to get a €30,000 or €40,000 loan upfront. Where will the money come from, even to pay for engineering fees at second stage or for demolition? There are many shortcomings and a lot of work still needs to be done on this. My decision to vote against this tonight is because we do not have enough time to put our heads together properly as a Parliament on it. I know the Minister's motivation is to try to get this done before the summer. I called for that, as did everyone in this House, but this scheme falls short. We did not have the time.

Downsizing was a big issue for me. I still believe it is unfair that somebody who wishes to downsize is being penalised. The person downsizing cannot salvage their kitchen and staircases; I felt very strongly on that point and will continue to raise it. I thank the Minister for the engagement once again, but my gut tells me that this second scheme is falling short for too many people and for constituents in my county in particular.

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