Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the people in the Gallery. I understand it is not easy for them to sit here this evening and hear their homes, lives and futures debated in this way. It is important we are having this debate but it cannot be easy for them to have to listen to this. They are all very welcome, as is everyone who is watching. I commend the work of the representative groups from the Construction Defects Alliance and others. I also commend the work of my colleague, an Teachta Ó Broin.

For many years Sinn Féin has been campaigning for a redress scheme for homeowners and tenants impacted by Celtic tiger-era defects. There are tens of thousands of workers, families, renters and homeowners affected by this. The report by the Department working group found that fire safety, water ingress and structural issues are present in 80% of apartments built between 1991 and 2013. I acknowledge the work put into this report. The scale of the problem is a direct result of Government policy and light-touch regulation. Six different Governments sat during this period. They encompassed Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Democratic Left, the Progressive Democrats, the Green Party and a host of Independents. All those politicians might reflect on their role in this scandal. It was not an accident that defective houses and apartments were built; it is what happens when an industry is allowed to self-regulate with the approval of the political system. This did not happen in a vacuum but with the approval of the political system. This light-touch regulation resulted in widespread shoddy practices by industry during the Celtic tiger years and led to serious building defects across the State. Homeowners and tenants impacted by building defects have been badly let down.

The scars of Government failure are to be seen across the length and breadth of my constituency, Dublin Fingal. I am not going to name the individual estates because the residents know who they are and they are already suffering enough without having their address tramped through the Dáil as well. Those impacted need to be supported. The Government has been dragging its heels on this for far too long. Homeowners and tenants are not to blame for building defects; it is not their fault. Despite this they have been left in limbo. They need certainty and reassurance. They need to be listened to and treated with respect. Our motion demands 100% redress for those impacted by building defects. It seeks to ensure any scheme to support the people affected is fair by providing interim funding for emergency works and short-term measures, such as fire wardens, in advance of full redress. It also prioritises those at greatest fire safety and structural risk and ensures the scheme includes social landlords, including local authorities and approved housing bodies. Crucially, it would ensure the scheme is an end-to-end one, rather than a grant scheme and calls on the Government to consider expanding the terms of reference to ensure it can open in early 2023. It would ensure the scheme is retrospective for those forced to pay for remediation of defects in advance of the opening of the scheme.

These measures would make a considerable difference to the people affected and ensure the scheme is fit for purpose. I am calling on all Deputies from all parties to back this motion to stand up for homeowners and tenants affected by building defects. It is not good enough for the Government to say it will not oppose this. It must support the motion. The people impacted by this are not to blame and it is long overdue that they be treated fairly. It is not enough for Deputies, especially those from the Government side, to pay lip service to supporting people impacted by these scandals. They must do the right thing and stand up when it really counts.

I particularly urge my constituency colleague, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to stand with the people in Fingal who are affected by building defects and support this motion rather than simply not opposing it. I have spoken to many people from the constituency who are impacted by this. They have done nothing wrong. Many have put themselves into significant debt to make their homes safe or else they lie awake at night worried about how they are going to repair their unsafe homes and find money they have not got just to sleep safely in their beds at night. They are the victims of the failure of the State to regulate. They bought their homes in good faith and were let down by a failure of Government regulation. They have done nothing wrong and deserve our support. They must be allowed to put this behind them and get on with their lives in safe and secure homes.

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