Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking to amendment No. 53. This is a very straightforward amendment. The lesson from the mica experience over recent years has been that it is only with the passing of time that people realise there is even greater damage than what was previously thought to be the full extent of it, with damage even into the foundations. The treatment of the foundations within this Bill has a source of distress to many. We are looking for a report on the implications of this section because, as Senator Boylan has said, there could well be situations where the main structures of houses were deemed to be okay only for it to be discovered upon further investigation that the foundations or, indeed, infill aggregate also need to be remediated. We do not see this as being a radical amendment in any way but rather ensuring as much of the damage that is experienced by households is covered under this scheme. We therefore ask the Minister of State to consider this amendment.