As the Taoiseach will be aware, thousands of families in Donegal and Mayo have been devastated by the presence of mica and pyrite in the structure of their homes. I met many of these families last year. I would struggle to describe to the Taoiseach the level of stress and trauma they have endured. Unfortunately, rather than making available to them a fully funded scheme which would cover 100% of costs, as was the case with the pyrite remediation scheme, the last Government presented these families in Donegal and Mayo with a take-it-or-leave-it offer of a scheme that would cover 90% of costs. That Government anticipated that the financial institutions would provide assistance. The real contributions these families have to make towards the cost of restoring their homes can be anything up to 50% of what are very considerable costs. The banks are nowhere to be seen. I urge the Taoiseach to fund fully the defective concrete blocks grant scheme and to have it cover 100% of costs. That is the least these families in Donegal and Mayo deserve.

I ask the Taoiseach to be brief in his reply.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has met with a representative group. I believe this meeting was in February. He asked for a submission on its proposals in respect of the scheme, a scheme which had been committed to and which has been up and running since last year. He got that submission towards the end of April. He is now going to consider the proposals. He is due to meet with the group again on Thursday. He will give every consideration to the submission the representative group has made.

With regard to the existing scheme, the maximum grants under each of the five remedial options range from €49,500 to €247,500. It is estimated the scheme could cost up to €1 billion over the next decade, between now and 2030. The Minister will meet with the group.