Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot be much clearer on this. Difficulties arising from pyrite and mica are different from difficulties with apartments. The key issue is defective material versus defective workmanship. In the case of pyrite and mica, the houses will become uninhabitable. These are very different circumstances. Expert groups and panels were set up in both cases for a number of years. The pyrite matter took approximately seven or eight years and we were a little quicker in dealing with mica. In both cases, expert panels considered how best to intervene to help people who lived in these houses. A house with mica or pyrite will eventually become uninhabitable, and that is the bottom line.