Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Stop kicking the can down the road. The Government has the report from July. It is very simple and it sets out the problems and the potential solutions. At the very least, the residents are looking for a commitment from the Taoiseach today that any scheme that will be introduced will be retrospective. Will the Taoiseach answer that question and give a commitment that, regardless of the details of the scheme that is introduced, it will be retrospective? If the Taoiseach does not do that, nothing is going to happen on this issue. Nobody is going to vote to pay €25,000, €30,000, €50,000 or €70,000 to fix defects that are not their fault and when they do not have this money. Give a commitment that the scheme that will be introduced will be retrospective.

Second, give a commitment that this will be a scheme for 100% redress because that is not the scheme that was introduced for the people affected by mica. These people are the victims of cowboy builders. Fianna Fáil, with its regime of self-certification, opened the door for cowboy builders to jump through. Give a guarantee that the State will be funding these costs so that these works actually can be done, because they will not be done if the Government leaves any portion of them up to ordinary people, because they cannot afford it, and then to go on to pursue the builders responsible.

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