Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome to the House and I welcome his action on this issue. As other Members have stated, no blame is attached to the present Administration for the cause of the problem. However, I have considerable concerns regarding the cost to the State and the scale of the problem, which I believe to have been underestimated in the Minister's contribution today. As I do not believe the figures add up, I wish to explore with the Minister the full cost of this problem. Several times up to now, the Minister has been asked questions in both the Dáil and the Seanad on the full cost of the pyrite problem to the taxpayer. I note that on all occasions, he has avoided this question either by refusing to answer or by stating the post-2015 funding position will be dealt with having regard to the position at that time and developments in the meantime.

What does that mean? The provision is unacceptable considering that the taxpayer must fund the problem because the Minister has not implemented the recommendations in the report of the pyrite resolution panel. The report has stated that after the initial €10 million allocated in the budget for 2014, additional funding will be allocated over the next two years from the capital stimulus programme. I have read the report. Its 200 pages contains a table, table 4.2, that points out that the average cost per house is €45,000 and a total of 10,300 houses that have not as yet been tested or remediated, which could mean a potential future cost in excess of €460 million.

Let us examine the figures. There are 1,100 houses in need of remediation and the Minister has provided €10 million. However, with the average cost per house being €45,000 and given the number of homes involved, it will need to provide €49.5 million. Can the Minister tell us where the remaining €39.5 million will be sourced? Has the taxpayer to foot the bill? There is an extra 10,300 houses located in the same estates that have not yet been identified as being affected but that could happen. As Members have said here, future houses where the same materials are used and houses that have been remediated, in the interest of fairness, deserve to be beneficiaries of the scheme. I am not saying that the State should pay it all. I ask the Minister to clarify the following. What will be the full cost of the scheme for the 1,100 houses and what is the shortfall? How much will it cost for the 10,300 houses located in the same estates, should that arise?

I agree that the State must take charge of the problem and compliment the Minister for doing so. It should ensure that all owners are promptly and fairly compensated for a problem not of their making. However, the Minister must ensure that those responsible for the problem are made to bear the cost. I welcome his confirmation that he will table some amendments on same tomorrow evening.

I agree with the recommendation in the pyrite report that states:

It is the view of the Panel that funding for the Resolution Board should not come from the Exchequer. It could come from, for example, the imposition of a levy on the construction/quarrying sectors and on the related insurance cover for those sectors or other similar sources.

However, a spokesperson for the Department said that legal difficulties prevented a levy being imposed on the construction and insurance industries. That makes no sense. In the past legal difficulties did not stop the Government imposing a levy on banks after the first bailout of AIB in the 1980s; a levy on insurance companies following the collapse of PMPA; or more recently a levy on medical insurance following the collapse of Quinn Insurance. Can the Minister advise the House of the Government's estimate for the full cost of pyrite remediation and the funding mechanism proposed?

I do not accept that the people who caused the problem should not pay. I am very concerned that remediation is to be carried out by the Irish Concrete Federation, CIF, and HomeBond. Therefore, they will benefit from this Government and taxpayer funded scheme but they do not pay. That is not right and is appalling. The chair of the remediation scheme panel is Mr. Jim Farrell, managing director of Roadstone.