Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)

It is deeply disappointing that the Bill was just published today. That did not give us sufficient time to go through it. While we did go through it in the housing committee, I do not think it is good practice to issue legislation on the day it is to be debated in the Dáil. I ask the Minister to reconsider how legislation is put through in the future. It is not sufficient time for us to go through it. While we want to progress legislation and solutions for people, in particular in situations like this where people are living in life-or-death situations, we really need to respect the process, the committee and us as elected representatives. I want to express my disappointment and ask the Minister to consider how legislation is brought through such that sufficient time is given.

As I have said previously in the Dáil, ultimately it is those who are affected by and living through this who need to be listened to. Deputy Ward has raised this issue and we have listened to people in the audiovisual room who are living through this. I have also heard accounts through my office. It is quite clear that as currently constructed, the proposals to deal with this are not adequate. They are not adequate in providing the redress that people need, both financially and in terms of the process itself. There are still substantial issues.

In particular, I want to raise the issue of what is the fundamental problem. We heard a very good presentation on the issue of pyrrhotite. The assumption or theory was that freeze thaw from mica was causing the problems in the housing, whereas it is actually caused by an internal sulfate attack by pyrrhotite. As was pointed out, this is very important because if we do not have the proper identification of what is causing the problem, we will not be able to solve it. Importantly, we will not enable those who are living in the homes to solve it. The concern is that this will be a part solution and that really we are burying - literally - the problem, which is going to emerge in years to come. It is papering over the cracks rather than fundamentally addressing the structural issue that is making the houses crumble and fall apart. It is not the freeze thaw from mica, as most people believe, but something else going on. It has been identified that the guidelines under the NSAI standards have not been updated to acknowledge this and that the scheme itself does not acknowledge this. Will the Minister come back on this? It is fundamental to how this issue is going to be genuinely addressed.

The other issue I want to talk about is the mental health impact of this crisis on people who are living through it. It is something I have spoken about before in relation to housing on a broader level. People in insecure and substandard homes are living through chronic stress. It is similar to, and in many ways significantly heightened by, living in a home affected by defective concrete. I would encourage the Minister to read an academic paper on this written by Oisin Keenan, Jamie Murphy, Paul Dunlop, Eileen Doherty, Rachel McHugh and Karen Kirby. It highlights that the use of defective concrete in the construction of homes has caused not only widespread property deterioration and economic shock but also psychological distress for thousands of families.

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