Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister made a speech containing a range of provocative comments that Opposition Members naturally responded to and then left without giving them a chance to respond. In terms of House etiquette, that is certainly challengeable, especially since most of the Opposition Members have not had their say yet.

I will raise an issue and maybe the Minister of State could raise it with his senior colleague. A cross-party delegation of councillors from Donegal came here today and protested outside. We are on the subject of people in desperate situations and trying protect them. There is a sense put out by Government that the owners of homes with defective blocks are sorted now and that everything is fine. If that is the case, why did a cross-party delegation come here today? Around 20 councillors came here today and gave a presentation in the audiovisual room. What they said is very clear. These families, some of them with children with disabilities, some with persons with disabilities, and some who are older people and pensioners, are being asked to engage with building contractors and try to find alternative accommodation for a year when there is nothing to be found - certainly nothing that would suit people with disabilities.

The Government has just washed its hands of the matter and claimed that it has no responsibility. It has been repeatedly asked if the Housing Agency can be deployed to build urgent temporary modular accommodation and has refused. It has been asked to engage with holiday-home owners who might have properties available. The response has been, "No, it's nothing to do with us. There is your money. Away you go." Of course, they will not get 100% redress because the Government will not let the Housing Agency run the project. The Government is expecting traumatised homeowners, whose lives have been destroyed, to try to engage building contractors to put a square plug into a round hole, to try to make an amount of money fit that cannot fit, to make them pay tens of thousands of euro.

I ask the Minister of State to speak to his senior colleagues who has left early because he did not have the courtesy to stay and listen to our point of view. Will the Minister meet members of Donegal County Council? Will he meet the councillors who were here today, including his Government party councillors who have called the scheme a sham? They have called out their own Government and said that the Minister needs to get up there urgently. People will be on the street again very soon in Donegal, Mayo, Clare and all these counties. They are in a desperate situation. The Government has put out a message that it is all solved. It has tried to con the people but very soon the people will be very aware of the scale of this. I again appeal to the Minister of State to ask his senior colleague to have the decency to read the transcript, given that he left early. He needs to go to Donegal and Mayo to meet the councillors who are profoundly concerned on behalf of our people.

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