The week before last, on promised legislation, I raised the plight of homeowners residing in defective buildings and their urgent need for State assistance. Their situation is so worrying - in some developments it is escalating - that I must raise it again today. I recently met with homeowners in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown who have received their first bills for remedial works that are only necessary as a result of poor construction. Along with these substantial bills came the pre-emptive threat of legal proceedings being instituted if bills are not paid by a specific deadline. Recently, they have received follow-up warning letters threatening that they will be hauled before the courts of justice if they do not pay. In the latest sickening phase of their plight they are being pushed up against the wall and asked to pay the price for the greed and incompetence of reckless builders who built dangerous, shoddy homes, unmonitored by an indifferent State.

Last summer the Dáil passed a Green Party motion calling on the Government to regulate the construction industry and institute a redress scheme for such homeowners. Last month the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government published a report which called for a redress scheme for such homeowners. Yet, instead of rising to and responding to these calls, the Government has done nothing. These homeowners feel alone and abandoned and the Government does nothing to assist them. These are not buy-to-let properties or speculative properties: these are their homes. This poor building happened under the State's watch with little or no substantive regulation, certification or supervision. The Government simply cannot wash its hands of this issue. Practical, reasonable measures which could ease the burden on homeowners include relief on property tax, relief on income tax for works to be carried out, creating a loan fund for those who cannot pay and VAT relief along the lines of the home renovation initiative.

What will the Taoiseach do to assist these homeowners who are in desperate need of help? Will he enact a comprehensive legal reform to create new remedies for victims of poor building practices? This problem will not go away. The remedies simply are not there and the Government must take action to create them. The Dáil has called for that, the joint Oireachtas committee has called for that and homeowners across the length and breadth of our country are calling for that. How much longer will the Government remain silent? When will the Government do something constructive and effective to help these homeowners?

I am very much aware of quite a lot of people around the country, in the city but certainly not just in the city, who bought apartments and houses that are now in need of substantial repair. Obviously, those people bought those homes in good faith - they are not all homes and quite a lot of them are buy-to-let properties but in many ways that is beside the point. People who bought those properties in many parts of the country now face a loss in the value of their homes, which are virtually impossible to sell on. Despite the recovery in house prices, house prices in those developments have not recovered for obvious reasons. Moreover, people living in those developments are now facing very large bills to repair and bring up to standard the apartment buildings and homes they live in. It is certainly something that affects my constituency as well as the Deputy's.

A lot of reforms have been brought in since 2014, including the construction industry regulation legislation, which is coming, and the building standards and building control regulations, which set out the primary purpose for which building regulations may be made. In order to address the unacceptable situation of building failures in the past, the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 were introduced to empower competence and professionalism in construction projects and establish a chain of responsibility that begins with the owner. The owner must assign competent persons to design, build, inspect and certify the building works, who in turn must account for their contribution through the lodgment of compliance documentation, inspection plans and statutory certificates. The statutory certificate of compliance on completion, signed by both a registered construction professional and the builder, must be in place prior to occupation. Oversight of governance of the building control system is also undergoing major reform to improve its effectiveness.

The increase in construction-related insurance products also demonstrates that the insurance industry has made an assessment that the risk of building failure in regard to buildings completed in accordance with the new building control system is low. It is worth noting that the increase in the availability of construction-related insurance products, such as first-party latent defects insurance, is taking place at a time of retrenchment in the wider industry since the introduction of the Solvency II directive.

The main objective of the building control (construction industry register Ireland) Bill, which is being brought forward by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, is to develop and promote a culture of competence and good practice in respect of and compliance with the building regulations among builders within the construction sector that will benefit the public. The establishment of a robust statutory register is critical to the development of a culture of competence.

The Taoiseach mentioned the 2014 regulations but what about homes built before 2014? Are homeowners who bought prior to 2014 to be cast aside and forgotten? What about homeowners who have exhausted all legal remedies and who now need some form of State assistance. They are facing bills of up to €30,000. In the past, the State intervened in respect of private contracts in circumstances such as this. Priory Hall set such a precedent. Furthermore, the Government gives tax reliefs to land hoarders and speculators, to the construction industry and developers, but it has nothing for these people. They are simply asking for some practical assistance and some recognition from the State that they will not have to face this nightmare entirely alone. I have written to the Minister asking him to meet some of the homeowners but I have yet to receive a reply. Will the Taoiseach meet them in order to hear, at first hand, about their ongoing stress, anxiety, worries and fears. Perhaps then the uncertain futures which they face, and the need for intervention and support would become abundantly clear to the Taoiseach.

I assure the Deputy that I have met these people already. I represent the Dublin West constituency, most of the homes in which were built in the past 20 or 30 years. Several developments were not built well and now need very significant investment in order that they might be brought up to standard. This is an issue of which I am very aware. It involves people who have bought properties which have not recovered as property prices have generally risen because they cannot be sold on. Many people are facing very large bills of €5,000, €15,000 or even more to repair the buildings in which they live.

On the pre-2014 builds, my previous answer outlined what is being done to stop this happening again. It is very much a legacy issue, part of the damage done to the country during the construction boom period. When it comes to pre-2014 builds, responsibility for any repairs should, in the first instance, fall on the builder or the company that developed the houses and buildings. Where that builder or development company no longer exists, ideally it should fall on groups such as HomeBond or insurers of constructions. I cannot remember the name of the second body involved at present. I am aware, however, that, after ten years, this responsibility runs out. If faults are not discovered within ten years, people can find themselves in a difficult position. That may be where the State can step in to help. However, I absolutely must say that, in the first instance, the cost should not fall on the general taxpayers and it should not fall on people's neighbours. The cost should fall on the developer first and the insurer second.