Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt the scheme is open and, as the Taoiseach said, there have been 1,500 applications, but thousands upon thousands of houses have to be redressed. It is a scheme that will last 25 or 30 years, at the rate the Government is going at present. It is a scheme that does not meet the needs of many people. There are people in their 50s and early 60s who are looking at having a build cost of €50,000 to €80,000 just to redress their houses. This is not a 100% scheme. The Government lauded it as such, but people will be paying €50,000 to €80,000 to get into a 100% redress scheme. This does not make sense. It does not suit families. Those people cannot go to a bank to remortgage because banks will not give them anything. Many of them are pensioners who cannot go on. The scheme cannot be willed on so they cannot even do it in that way. These are things the Government could do to make changes. Indeed, on mortgageability, houses will not be mortgageable after families get redress. Campaign groups have been trying to get the Government to address this. A meeting at the Department was postponed four times. I do not think it has met since January. That is wrong. The scheme is not meeting the needs of the people who need it. We will be here for many years to come at the rate the Government is currently going.

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