Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's engagement on this issue. I say this with respect but this is an example of how a scheme is devised by the Government without understanding how it flows through. We now have a situation, as I said, where people have to find bridging finance of €70,000 and more to fund the rebuild of their homes. The mortgage terms and conditions, which are legally binding, say that if a person demolishes their home, he or she needs the permission of the bank. For the bank to give that permission, it needs assurances that the home can be rebuilt in full. There are also questions about where a person can get the rest of the money. We need the Government and the banking sector to come up with a unified scheme. I know this scheme is being held now because there are still issues in relation to the new scheme. We need to see that published as soon as possible but it needs to be correct. There is no point publishing a scheme that does not work in reality. That is why I urge the Minister to talk to his Government colleague about the new scheme to make sure that the issues being experienced by homeowners are addressed. The Department needs to be talking to the banks to make sure that an all-in-one system is put in place.

The real problem here is that the Government is asking almost 4,000 people to be self-builders. We should not be asking people to demolish their own homes and rebuild them. The Housing Agency should be dealing with this from start to finish.

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