Cuirim fíor fháilte roimh na haíonna. Section 11 provides for an increase or a decrease in the overall caps by way of a Government order. The reason for doing this is because it means we can change the amount by up to 10% for the first three years by regulation, thereby allowing the Minister flexibility which means he or she does not have to come before the Dáil or Seanad to make amendments. I am not sure whether the Senators who proposed the amendment were at the hearings held with homeowners and experts from the …

I thank Senator Gavan for the amendment and thank Senators for their contributions. There is mention in the very first section that the damage category ratings and thresholds exist to ensure that we can prioritise the worst homes first. We need to do that because, potentially, thousands of homes are affected so this scheme will be with us for quite some time. Also, we want people to apply to join the scheme. The way that the amendment is structured means that if people do not apply for a couple of years but when th…

Yes, with the new evidence. We are not going to insist people stick with a remediation option that is not going to work. I will explain what is required in that instance. An independent engineer will have conducted an assessment and a remediation option will have been chosen. However, if, because of the passage of time or whatever, it is found that another remediation option is more appropriate, which could be within options 2 to 5 or, indeed, option 1, then a new application is made containing the new data, and th…

I assure Senator Flynn that I am not setting the thresholds of what damage should look like or the minimum threshold. That has been informed by the expert group, which comprises experts such as scientists and people qualified in the appropriate areas. There was reference to the 1.5 mm threshold and it is a recommendation from the expert group. We will set the threshold on the basis of these hearings, including feedback in the Seanad, Dáil and other forums. It is the right course of action. Ultimately, we are electe…

I have not purposely compared the pyrite remediation scheme for the east coast and this Bill. They are very different schemes. There are additional items in this scheme, particularly in respect of second properties, second grant options registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, increased costs and grant amounts. It is therefore a substantially better scheme than the east coast scheme. I did talk on Second Stage, however, about the issue we had with multi-unit developments, being apartments, and the need…

I think we should be able to deal with multi-unit developments and apartments and the exceptional circumstances clause through regulation. If that requires a small amendment to an Act, which it may, we will do that. We have not bottomed that out, but I am putting on record here, as I did in the Dáil, that it is my absolute intention that both those elements be dealt with. We just have not concluded the work on ownership of apartments. If I had, I would be bringing that forward. We have issues with some multi-unit d…

I will now address amendment No. 37. Retrospective application of benefits of the enhanced scheme will apply to applicants under the current scheme. Retrospectively including homes which were remediated before the grant scheme and the IS 465 standard would, if it was introduced, be extremely complex. It is genuinely not clear how many such homes are in this situation. In the absence of the IS 465 standard it is not clear what analysis was carried out on those homes before they were remediated or on what basis the r…

I thank the Senators for their contributions and for the amendment. All present recognise the massive leap forward being made with this scheme. That has been acknowledged by homeowners, as well as by all parties and Independents. It is a scheme that is vastly different from the one in place from January 2020 - unrecognisably so. Fundamentally, it gives 100% redress based on independent rates that are set at up to €161 per square foot. I understand the argument on this matter but we are not penalising anyone. There …

Yes, that is the intention. There is no downsizing penalty. The scheme is fair and appropriate. Fundamentally, we are doing this because we want to help people to rebuild their homes and get their lives back on track. We need to be honest with people. This scheme will work. It will probably cost at least €2.7 billion of Exchequer funding, and rightly so. All of the people affected are taxpayers too. We have to be able to manage a scheme that is workable. All of the replacement costs have been set independently of m…

I do not want to go back and forth because there has been a pretty constructive debate but that is incorrect. It is totally and utterly incorrect. It might suit to make the charge to create an issue. There is not an issue. The rates have been set independently. Dealing with inflation is built in by way of the review. I have already quoted the specific rates that are there. They are set independently of us to replace homes on a like-for-like basis to 100% redress. This is what we committed to do and it is what we ha…

Is there an intervention from the Public Gallery?

Deputy Mac Lochlainn has not been allowed to speak all week for other reasons. We have a responsibility to people to be very honest with them and get behind the scheme to make it work for them. Anyone who looks at this in a fair and clear way will see the financial commitment behind the scheme is extremely robust. I said to Senators earlier, and I said to Deputies in the other House, that the scheme will evolve further. There is no question of this. I said it in Buncrana when I was there with Senator Blaney and the…

I have made my point. I have tried to address the amendment tabled. The debate heretofore has been very constructive and respectful. The most recent intervention moved away from that. Our job is to get a new scheme in place that will fix people's homes and get their lives back on track. This is absolutely the basis to do this. I will not accept the amendment.

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…

My God, Deputy McDonald, your arrogance today has not just gone stratospheric; it has gone intergalactic.

We would need NASA's Webb telescope to be able to track it. Housing is a key political issue of our time. We know people stuck in a rent trap or on social housing waiting lists are desperate for somewhere to secure and afford.

Parents and grandparents want to see their children buying a decent home, like they did at a similar age. The Government is committed to tackling this as our number one priority. After a decade of undersupply, as the Taoiseach said, the numbers of new builds, commencements and planning permissions are up. More and more people are drawing down mortgages and buying new homes. The first affordable purchase homes in a generation will be delivered this year. The first cost rental homes have been built and the largest so…

This is a real plan. I say to Sinn Féin Deputies, if they want to deliver homes, they should stop objecting to measures like the 6,000 homes in Dublin to which they objected-----

-----including the schemes for Oscar Traynor Road, O'Devaney Gardens and Ballymastone. I could go on.

They say one thing and do another. They block progress, delay delivery, disrupt and sow discontent.