Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

This is an issue not just for Donegal but for the entire country. A precedent is being set by the way the Government is dealing with this issue. I want to send solidarity to all the homeowners and people affected by this issue in Donegal. There are often attempts in this House and outside it to divide and rule between people from so-called urban areas and rural areas. The reality is that I live in a pyrite-affected estate, but the pyrite remediation scheme has been extended to Limerick and other places. It is actually up and running. I just went to check the pyrite remediation website and it is taking new applications as we speak. I want to know why a different approach was taken.

The first thing the Minister said in his opening remarks was that the Government had financially assisted people. People should not be financially assisted; they should have their houses fixed completely, just like they did under the pyrite remediation scheme. My preference would be that a State company would fix everybody's house in a proper way and to standard, but there are specialist companies that did the work relating to pyrite and became experts in it. Companies should fix people's homes. People should not have to raise money, get a grant and do it themselves.

I wanted to bring some lessons from the battle we had over pyrite, when people's houses started to crack and the doors started to jam. People know that pyrite does significant damage to homes when it is exposed to the air and to moisture. Often this did not manifest for a number of years, but it began to manifest. We had to battle, by the way. Nobody should think that any remediation was granted by the Government. There were public meetings and petitions. I remember holding a public meeting when my daughter was a baby, and she started playing games about pyrite because she had attended so many meetings. It was not granted to people but had to be fought and battled for.

The damage this is causing to people's mental health has already been outlined. How a Government can stand over that is beyond me. A study was done by Ulster University professors Oisin Keenan, Karen Kirby et al., "An earthquake in slow motion". I will read some of the statistics from that. A total of 30.4% of people were suffering from severe depression, 26.2% of people from severe anxiety, 4.9% from PTSD and 15.5% from complex post-traumatic stress disorder. A total of 35.5% of the sample had suicidal ideation. Is the Minister listening to that? People cannot survive in crumbling, damp, unsafe homes. It affects their mental health. People feel it is like a warzone.

The motion from the Deputy quite rightly states, "the crisis extends far beyond private homes to schools, health centres, community buildings, critical infrastructure, and cemeteries". We have the same issue in Dublin West. Our local school has closed because it is getting fixed, because it has pyrite, and all of the students have had to be transferred. The community centre has shut down. The whole of Tyrrelstown, which is bereft of facilities at the best of times, had no facilities for ages because the community centre and school had to close. Clubs had to battle to get alternative grounds and venues. The impact of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael kowtowing to developers in this country with their light-touch regulation is being paid for by the people of Donegal and in many other places where defective building practices have been allowed to thrive.

The Galway tent was mentioned. I know we have State funding of political parties now but it has not stopped the Government from bowing in front of the building industry. It is unbelievable that a levy of 5% ends up being paid by the people seeking to fix their houses when they go and buy concrete products. The Minister needs to listen and there needs to be remedy for people in Donegal immediately.

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