Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I understand Senator Mac Lochlainn is on his way.

We cannot even allow the Senator to draw his breath. We are about six minutes through the eight minutes allocated. I ask him to outline his case as briefly as possible. I cannot allow supplementary questions on this. In fairness, Senator O'Donnell was kind enough to ask the Minister of State to wait, and the Minister of State has another appointment as well.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I know it is a very important issue for the Senator.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein)
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This matter was originally scheduled as the fourth Commencement matter. Obviously, that was rescheduled. I apologise to the Cathaoirleach. These things change quickly in here.

The Minister now knows that the report that was recently published was delayed by a year. That is a year in which families in Donegal have had to endure more concern and more alarm as their homes are literally falling apart around them. There is not a week that goes by, particularly recently since the report has been published, in which I have not spoken to families, by either meeting them at their homes or speaking to them on the phone, who have taken me through the concerns they have. They are totally devastated.

The report proves very clearly that there was a failure of State regulation and building control. If we look at the eight recommendations, they all focus on the need to make serious improvements in this area. We are now a year behind schedule in terms of the report. I appeal to the Minister of State to introduce a redress scheme for the families involved similar to the pyrite scheme in Dublin and north Leinster.They are facing a situation whereby they are looking at their gables falling apart. I talked to a family who have bison slab, concrete floor and another wooden floor above that. What are they to do in such a situation? They are worried that the roof could literally fall down over their heads. That is what people are facing right now. They have waited a year. This has been delayed because of the delay in the report.

Similar to the pyrite situation, the Government needs to introduce a redress scheme to allow families to immediately bring in qualified engineers to assess the work that needs to be done on these houses and to put in place the resources to allow them to rebuild their homes and lives. Thousands of families are affected in Donegal. Hundreds of council homes are affected. I appeal to the Minister of State to urgently bring in a redress scheme to give hope to these families so that they can rebuild their homes and lives.

I intend to share time in my subsequent contribution with Senator Conway-Walsh.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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We will allow Senator Conway-Walsh to raise a supplementary question. The Senator can come in after that. Today has gone skew-ways because another Minister of State could not come in earlier and we were waiting. The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy English, has an appointment as well. We will allow you to come in, Senator.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I understand that things can change. I am sorry that I could not wait any longer. We have some appointments booked up as well.

I thank Senator Mac Lochlainn for raising this important issue - I recognise it as such. I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn's colleagues in Donegal and Mayo as well. Colleagues across parties and in both Houses have been raising this issue with me directly during the past year since I took up this role, as have many others as well. The issue concerns many people and all sides want it to be sorted out.

I wish to acknowledge the difficult and distressing situations that certain home owners in Donegal and Mayo are facing on account of damage to the structural integrity of their homes. I have seen some of these damaged homes first-hand and I have met the home owners in Donegal and Mayo, so I understand clearly the difficulties they face. I understand the hassle it has caused to their lives as well as the financial and health impacts in recent years since they have had to deal with this.

I firmly believe that the parties responsible for poor workmanship and the supply of defective materials should face up to their responsibilities and take appropriate actions to provide remedies for the affected home owners in these cases and in other cases also. The expert panel on concrete blocks was established by my Department in 2016 to investigate problems that have emerged in the concrete block work of certain dwellings in counties Donegal and Mayo.

I will outline the terms of reference of the panel. The first term was to identify, in so far as it is possible, the numbers of private dwellings that appear to be affected by defects in the block work in the counties of Donegal and Mayo. We now have a rough idea of numbers. We know the minimum numbers and also what the maximum would be in both counties. It is important that we have collected that data. The second term was to carry out a desktop study, which would include a consultation process with affected home owners, public representatives, local authorities, product manufacturers, building professionals, testing laboratories, industry stakeholders and other relevant parties, to establish the nature of the problem in the affected dwellings. That work is being carried out now. It is useful to help us provide the solutions that are needed as well. The next term was to outline a range of technical options for remediation and the means by which those technical options could be applied. Again, we have that information. Finally, the group was to submit a report within six months.

I received the report of the expert panel on 6 June 2017. It is comprehensive and addresses all areas of the terms of reference. I published the report one week later on 13 June 2017. The report has eight recommendations. My Department has already taken action to implement recommendations one and two as priorities. Recommendation one relates to the testing and categorisation protocol. The Department met the National Standards Authority of Ireland recently to discuss the establishment of a technical committee to scope and fast-track the development of a standardised protocol. That is the first recommendation because it is most important to get the protocol right. I have dealt with these schemes in the past and it is important that part is dealt with; it will take away some of the grey area for home owners also.

Recommendation two relates to competent professional oversight. My Department has been in contact with Engineers Ireland with regard to the establishment of a register of competent engineers for home owner affected parties' reference. Engineers Ireland provided assurance that the organisation will collaborate with the Department, NSAI and others on measures to establish such a register. Again, that is highly important and we will do it as quickly as we can. We are not delaying on these recommendations in any way.

I fully appreciate and understand the urgency of this matter to the affected home owners and I will continue to monitor progress closely. We will meet the residents in both counties soon. In light of the information contained in the report, my Department and I are currently considering what further actions may be required to assist the parties directly involved in reaching a satisfactory resolution to the problems that have emerged in the two counties.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I will allow Senator Conway-Walsh to raise a matter about her own county, Mayo.

Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein)
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The Minister will know there are 345 homes affected in County Mayo. This is not good enough, not by a long shot. People want a redress scheme. They are grateful to the Minister for doing the report in the first instance, but all the language he has used today suggests that what people really need will be hidden behind these lines. We must face up to the fact that these home owners were let down. They were sold materials that were not fit for purpose. That was clearly stated in the report. The State had an obligation to protect them in that regard. We failed to do that. We failed to implement the legislation already there, and we failed to have the legislation that would further protect these home owners.

Nothing short of a redress scheme will fix this problem. We can talk about it for years. We can write volumes of reports. That will not cut the mustard. We need a redress scheme, and we need it now. There are two ways we can get this scheme. As this is a housing issue, can the money needed be found within the amounts allocated to housing or will there be a line in the budget for a redress scheme? They are the two questions those of us in County Mayo, and in County Donegal, need answered. I thank my colleague, Senator Mac Lochlainn, for raising this important issue again, which we have been driving for over a year.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Everyone here has been driving this issue for well over a year. I recognise that. It is cross-party, and I want to be clear on that. I am conscious of the effects in Donegal and Mayo. It would be wrong of anyone to try to claim this issue. People are being affected. It is not a political issue. I have met these people. I have told them that I will do my job to help them get a resolution. No one is claiming anything here.

Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein)
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We would never do that because it is the home owners who are central to this issue.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The residents I have met fully understand that. I met the Mica Action Group in Donegal and other groups in Mayo also. They understood that a report had to be done. We had to gather the evidence and get solutions. I have had it for a couple of weeks. We will deal with it. These people want to know that the houses will be fixed. I told them I will work with them on that, and that is as far we are going until I get a chance to go through the report and all the recommendations. I want to be clear on that. I only got it myself a few weeks ago, and the residents understand that. I will meet them in the coming weeks to discuss this with them. Where we can move on with recommendations, we will do that straight away, and we did that immediately with recommendations 1 and 2. That is the way we will continue with regard to the rest of the recommendations. They will be dealt with as urgently as possible and where I can make decisions, I will do so.

Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein)
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When will it be put in place?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I want to acknowledge the Minister's indulgence when I know he is under pressure, and that of Senator O'Donnell, who was prepared to wait. The Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy was here as well. Tá na laethanta saoire ag teacht, le cúnamh Dé.