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

All of the apartment and duplex owners I am in touch with were very happy to see that a scheme was announced. They have been campaigning for this for a long time as the only just and workable solution. They were also struck by the lack of detail and we still have a lack of detail today and they know, unfortunately, that the people affected by mica were promised a 100% redress scheme more than a year ago and they are still waiting for that and in reality the small print of that scheme means that it will be substantially less than 100%. They are determined to stand together with everybody. Everybody affected by defects needs to be given 100% redress and then we need to go after the people responsible.

I have a few questions on the details. First, when will the further details be announced? Separate to the legislation, the Minister can outline how it is going to work in much more detail than has been done so far. Second, I take the Minister's point that people should not delay. They should continue. There are serious safety issues and work must be done. Emergency funding was mentioned. Can that be rolled out quicker? It will cost people who need to get work done in an apartment block €20,000 per person. Most people cannot afford this. As it currently stands, that is still not going to happen because most people will not be able to afford it. Therefore, emergency measures must be put in place whereby owners' management companies, OMCs, can access funds. For example, there could be a short-term scheme of the Housing Finance Agency giving low-cost or zero-interest loans to OMCs knowing they will get the money back from the scheme in the future. That would mean works could proceed. I got a text from a person who received a threatening lawyer's letter from an agency saying the person had to pay up. For things such as this, it is still not going to work.

How will things other than fire defects be judged? Will defective balconies be included? I refer to houses in estates that were built at the same time as apartments and duplexes and are affected by the same sort of issues. Will, for example, balconies also be included in this scheme?

See this speech in context