Results 5,681-5,700 of 6,653 for speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Business of Joint Committee (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I nominate Deputy Steven Matthews.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is just made on a yearly basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Is Mr. Rafferty aware that people are locked out of the scheme because they cannot afford it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Would Mr. Rafferty like to hear from homeowners with exact quotes about what they have been allocated?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Obviously, it is not getting through in the communication because we have a whole list of things that need to be done to put the scheme right. I do not see any changes being made to address the issues that have been raised by the homeowners in Mayo. I know similar issues have been raised in Donegal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: They are locked out because they cannot financially afford to access it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I had to rush off to Taoiseach's Questions but I have a few questions. When was pyrrhotite first mentioned within the Department? When did the Department become aware there was a possibility of pyrrhotite and that it was not just mica or pyrite?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Is Mr. Wickham absolutely certain pyrrhotite was not discussed within the Department until 2021?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I do not mean in any particular context. The Department would have been notified because we have been dealing with these problems for a long time, as I certainly have been in Mayo, given they were first identified, as the witnesses will know, in Erris and Belmullet and on the Mullet Peninsula. That was in about 2013. I heard pyrrhotite being mentioned at that time, actually in the context...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I am not talking about that. Obviously, the Department would have been aware of it homeowners started to contact it. At that time, did the Department or the then Minister become aware there was a significant issue, with homes falling down?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: With regard to pyrrhotite, the Department was not aware there was a possibility that it was not just mica in Donegal and pyrite in Mayo.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I am trying to establish why it was confined to mica in Donegal. It had to be mica, and only mica was tested for.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Looking back now we see the restrictiveness. This is not a normal circumstance but in such circumstances would the Department look at what was happening globally with regard to buildings and homes in other countries damaged by pyrrhotite?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Are the quarries now being tested for pyrrhotite with regard to the aggregate that makes up the blocks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Is it fit for purpose now? Can we be assured it is fit for purpose with all that Mr. Wickham has described?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: When Mr. Wickham says "market surveillance" are there checks so the Government can stand over it in terms of regulations? One of the biggest surprises we got when we started looking at this, because we automatically assumed the materials coming out of the quarry were insured, guaranteed or regulated, was that we quickly realised that everything, from the noise to the environment and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: What responsibility does the Government have?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Who checks it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: If we were in a similar situation today, who would be responsible if it were found out that the materials used to build houses came from certain quarries, with regard to €2.2 billion, at least, that must be paid out now? Would it be insurance companies? Would it be the quarries? Who would it be?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Defective Concrete Blocks: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Are we leaving all this to the markets? Mr. Wickham keeps repeating the word "market". Are we really leaving oversight to the industry and the markets?