I have asked the Government numerous times in recent years to take action on practical actions for homeowners affected by latent defects in their homes. I met the Minister of State, Deputy English, to discuss the strain that homeowners in my constituency of Dublin-Rathdown are under. He indicated that he would meet them but regrettably he subsequently changed his mind and no such meeting will now take place. As the Taoiseach knows, the Green Party has, on many occasions, called on the Government to investigate practical measures to help these homeowners. Nearly two years ago, the Dáil supported a Green Party motion calling on the Government to set up a scheme to remediate legacy defects. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government made a similar call earlier this year. Does the Government intend to investigate this issue at national level? Will it take steps in budget 2019 to mitigate the pain and distress these people are burdened with, or will they remain abandoned?

The Minister of State, Deputy English, is examining proposals in that regard. As is the case in the Deputy's constituency, there are also apartment buildings with defects in my constituency. The cost of repairing those defects, even when divided among the different homeowners or apartments, is very large for one individual or group of individuals to carry. Before we commit taxpayers' money, whether through tax incentives, write-offs or grants, to the repair of private homes, duplexes or apartments, we need to have an understanding of the kind of cost we could be imposing on taxpayers in general and on the rest of society. We do not yet have any calculation of that.