Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are a lot of dates and so on specified in the legislation but the situation is exactly as Senator Cummins outlined. Once an applicant is approved, he or she has 78 weeks from the date of approval to commence the work. We should not forget these are urgent works. Should an applicant need another 24 weeks on top of that to commence the work, he or she will get it. That basically gives two years just to commence the urgent remediation. From commencement, approved applicants have 65 weeks in which to complete the works. Again, they can seek another 24 weeks, on top of those 65 weeks, if they need them.

I genuinely do not understand this amendment. The Senator may have misread the provisions in the legislation. The limit of 78 weeks is not to complete the works; it is to commence them. If a person is applying to the scheme, he or she wants to get the work done. We are allowing time for the whole preparatory process. As Senator Keogan mentioned, it can take time to get a contractor and so on, but there are another 24 weeks available, on top of the 78 weeks, to get the work started. Most of us want this scheme to progress and to help people to move on. Senator Gavan is talking about allowing a five-year period to get the work done. I genuinely do not get that. To clarify for Senators, there is provision for a period of 78 weeks from when a person gets grant approval to commence the work. If homeowners need another 24 weeks, that is absolutely fine. Then there is provision for a period of 65 weeks, which is well over a year, to complete the work, and a further 24 weeks may be allowed, if required. Those limits will set boundaries on the people who are doing the work, not in order to get them to rush it but to give an appropriate time in which to do it. I genuinely believe there is ample time provided and I certainly will not accept this amendment. Perhaps it was tabled in error.

Senator Keogan made a very good point. As I mentioned earlier, there will not be a shortfall. Some 99% of applicants will be fully covered under the scheme. Bar those applicants whose home will cost way above the €420,000 threshold, who make up a tiny percentage of the total, there will be 100% cover for people. In addition, people may apply for an SEAI grant, even if they applied for one before, including on that particular house. We have changed the provisions to allow that to be done. People certainly can apply for housing adaptation grants based on the criteria set down under the relevant scheme. That absolutely is applicable. However, I do not see such grants as making up any shortfall. As I set out, there will be no shortfall in almost all cases.

I hope I have explained the position in regard to timeframes. I genuinely think they are more than reasonable. The provisions give people the time they need, which is what I want to do, without elongating the period for completing the work way out further. Applicants will have 78 weeks to commence the work once their grant has been approved. I am not sure why people would wait. There could be life issues within households, which is fine, but provision for an additional 24 weeks may be availed of in such cases. Once the work commences, there is a period of 65 weeks for completion. That is a good thing because it gives both homeowners and contractors certainty. Again, if another 24 weeks are needed for completion, they will be given.