I move: That Dáil Éireann: welcomes the publication of the Report of the Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing; notes that the report: — estimates up to 100,000 homes could be affected by building defects; — estimates that the cost of remediating these defects could be as high a €2.5 billion; and — outlines options for the creation and financing of a redress scheme for those affected; acknowledges that: — light touch building control regulations by the Government, and shoddy practice in the construction indus…

This morning in the Irish Examiner , we have learned of yet another Celtic tiger era complex with fire safety defects. Phoenix Park Racecourse is the location of at least 550 fire-defective apartments. Last Thursday, “Prime Time” carried a special report regarding fire safety defects in Parkwest, as the Minister knows, which will cost homeowners €68,000 each to rectify. The Saturday preceding that, the Not Our Fault 100% Redress campaign group, which represents homeowners affected by Celtic tiger era defects, along…

At the Not Our Fault 100% Redress conference held in Tallaght a number of weeks ago, the question that all of the affected homeowners had was when these supports would be provided. They made it very clear they wanted, and I support their demand for, 100% redress because, as the Minister rightly said, they did not cause these defects. They made a very clear call for retrospective provision because there are homeowners who have to undertake fire safety works right now under instruction from the Dublin Fire Brigade, i…

Absolutely.

I fully accept the need for legislation, although I still believe that the Pyrite Resolution Board could be repurposed. It could start its work pending the enactment of the new legislation, and then be underpinned by that. I urge the Minister to consider that. Yesterday was the first anniversary of the announcement of the enhanced defective block scheme. The regulations for that scheme are still not complete and the scheme is not yet open. It is highly likely that even if it opens in the first quarter of next year,…

As the Minister is aware, many of us on this side of the House welcomed the introduction of the winter ban on evictions. However, we urged him to use the breathing space provided by the ban to introduce emergency measures to increase and accelerate the provision of additional social and affordable housing during the five-month period when the ban will be in place in order that many renters will not face a cliff edge of possible eviction when the ban ends. I appreciate that the Minister has staggered the dates to so…

The way in which the Minister has designed this ban on eviction - it is very different from its predecessor - means there will be a large build-up of notices, the due date of which will fall on 1 April notwithstanding the stagger included by the Minister. I have not heard from him what measures above and beyond those that were in place prior to the ban he is taking to increase that delivery. With respect to the tenants in situ scheme, I fully accept the Minister has reiterated the delegated responsibility. The prob…

With regard to the tenants in situ scheme, the problem is that local authorities are still applying the allocation scheme when taking decisions. That means local authorities are taking decisions not to buy, notwithstanding the numbers mentioned by the Minister. I urge him to issue a circular to local authorities asking them to suspend the scheme of lettings for an emergency period of six months to ensure we get the maximum number of tenants in situ and have a presumption to buy. I invite him to give us more detail …

I acknowledge and thank Deputy Duffy for proposing that the housing committee undertake a series of hearings and prepare this report. It is an extremely important area of work and we have all benefited enormously from the hearings that were held. I also acknowledge all the organisations and the officials from the two Departments who appeared before the committee and assisted us greatly in grappling with this important issue. It is also important to acknowledge a number of other actors. The Department of Public Expe…

That is not what she said at all.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges that Fine Gael supported by Fianna Fáil or vice versa have held the Ministerial portfolio for Housing since 2016; notes that: — the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party coalition Government has been in office for two and a half years; — during this time the Government's housing policies have failed, and the housing crisis has deepened; — the current Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD, believes that housing is not in a state of emergency;…

That is not true.

For a decade.

That is not true.

It is not true.

It is pushing up house prices.

It is not enough.

It is not enough.

Absolutely not.

It is still not true.