Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Fáilte ar ais, a Aire Stáit Noonan. I often wonder who listens to the words of TDs. In fairness, at the different times the Minister of State has been here, he has listened. He has been compassionate and showed empathy. However, this is an important question for departmental officials in particular. I certainly do not want to go down the road of bashing officials. They are hardworking officials who try their best in the main. I know that some officials took time out yesterday today and yesterday to prepare the answer that the Minister of State has in his hands tonight. Phone calls would have been made and emails would have been sent, then there would be agreement on some wording. In a nutshell, the public would see this as holding the line for the officials and Ministers in charge of the purse strings.

I understand this up to a point. Departmental officials and Ministers have been holding the line on the defective blocks issue for the best part of a decade. That line has been to frustrate, obfuscate and delay the defective blocks scheme. In a nutshell, this scheme is creating substantial shortfalls for over 50% of applicants. It is not a 100% scheme and should not be labelled as a 100% scheme. It is a shortfall in the region of €100,000, which is an average. The bit that I want to get across to officials and Ministers tonight in the Departments of housing, the Taoiseach and public expenditure is this. This is a multifaceted problem and a complex issue. It is not correct to just land everything on the doorstep of the Department of housing. This is a chain of command issue.

I ask the people who happen to be listening tonight or may be interested in listening tomorrow to visualise a scenario where their home, irrespective of size, has defective blocks, which they bought in good faith. Their house is falling and they still have an outstanding organisation. Their house is worthless and of no value. They knock down their house but continue to pay a mortgage on a house that does not exist. I will say that again. They continue to pay a mortgage on a house that does not exist. They pay a mortgage on a greenfield site. Further, they will need to raise upwards of €100,000, which they will add to your mortgage. Is this fair? I think everybody in this House knows the answer to that.

Within the current legislation, there is scope to raise the cap by 10%, which would add €42,000 to the scheme. Even with this, there is a shortfall. Ultimately, this will benefit 50% of applicants. My question tonight is straightforward. Will the Minister raise the cap by 10%, as is provided for in the legislation?

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