Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leader for the advance notice regarding the Friday sittings.

Fourteen times in the last two months I have raised the issue of pyrite and the lack of action from the Government on the matter. I remind Members that there are potentially over 70,000 houses affected by pyrite. They are predominantly in Dublin and on the east coast in the greater Dublin area. I have visited many houses affected by pyrite and many of them are unsafe and uninhabitable. The houses are valueless but their owners must pay their mortgages. HomeBond has washed its hands of the issue and insurance companies and local authorities do not want to know. The Government has put together an expert group that was supposed to report in February, then it was March, then April and then May. I know that the Leader has done his best and I am not criticising him. All I ask is that people, including the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, visit a family or home where people have been affected by pyrite, where their house is unsafe, where there are cracks in the walls the size of a fist, where they cannot use the bathroom, where they are paying mortgages of €1,500 and €2,000 per month yet they have no recourse to anyone. I have reminded the House repeatedly that the longer the delay the more people will become statute barred and they will not have recourse to the courts. The average remediation cost for a standard three bedroom house is €30,000. Of the 72,500 houses estimated to be affected only 700 houses, or 1%, have been remediated which was due to a court case taken by a builder against the quarries.

I give the Leader advance notice that Fianna Fáil has prepared a Bill called the home remediation Bill 2012 that I intend to publish before the summer recess in order to give real support to people affected by pyrite. I have held off publishing my Bill because I want to see the Government's report by the pyrite expert group. I hope that its report is published before my Bill. I sincerely ask the Leader to return next week with a date on when the report will be issued. If not, I will publish my legislation and we will proceed with it.

Last February the Minister for Health attended the House for a debate on the HSE's service plans. We need an urgent debate on the HSE and its financial situation. I raised the matter two weeks ago. I estimate that we will have an overspend of close to €1 billion by the end of the year. A few months ago seven directors were announced but they have not been appointed. It is the Minister's board but he made it stand down. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, is exceptionally concerned about how the HSE operates but the Minister for Health is clueless about it. I would like the Minister for Health to come the House before the recess for a proper debate on the Government's plans for the rest of this year and how we will arrest the overspend and ensure that front-line services are protected. I want him to explain why the one group of people that have not been affected by public sector cuts are the consultants, his colleagues. He used to represent them at the Irish Medical Organisation. I would like him to come here and explain the logic of that when normal nurses, orderlies and hospital staff have all suffered cuts. The Minister's friends have not. I want him to explain why a public consultant is paid €200,000 from the State before he or she deals with private practice. We need the debate and I ask for it to take place urgently.