Donegal is the forgotten county. I have said this to the Taoiseach many times before. There we are, up in the north-west of Ireland, happy to be living in the most beautiful county in the country but despairing at how we have been treated by successive Governments. The people of Donegal are making their voices heard now. They are making their voices heard here today. They are harnessing the power of social media and media to say the Government cannot ignore them any longer. There cannot be one rule for Dublin homes in the pyrite redress scheme and another for people in Donegal and Mayo whose homes are crumbling with mica. We will not be forgotten and, wonderfully, the public is behind us in our call for no less than 100% redress.

At the end of May, thousands took to the streets of Donegal to highlight the atrocity and injustice being imposed on homeowners in the county. Today, more than 40 busloads of people have come to Dublin to show the Government they will not be forgotten. At the beginning of 2020, the Government launched the defective concrete block grant scheme for homeowners affected by pyrite in Mayo and mica in Donegal. However, it was in early 2014 that the Mica Action Group was formed. It is a lobby group made up of volunteers directly affected by the scandal. For seven years, it has been seeking redress and liaising with local and national government officials. It has been fighting for recognition for seven years.

The Taoiseach's covert mission to Donegal last week and his photo opportunity with some crumbling walls was far too late. Now that our voices are louder, the Taoiseach has to listen. As the Taoiseach knows, access to the defective concrete blocks grant scheme costs between €5,000 and €7,000 but the cost to access the scheme in Leinster is much lower, at €500. Up to 5,700 homes throughout Donegal and Mayo are crumbling away because of the presence of mica in defective concrete blocks. Approximately 1,000 local authority provided social homes in Donegal are also affected. Tenants are paying rent and hoping their ceilings and walls do not fall down on them.

The Taoiseach said he needed to speak to the Attorney General on the next steps.

No, I did not say that.

Why does he need to check with the Attorney General?

I never said that.

He is reported as having said that. Perhaps he will clarify the matter in his response because I will be glad to hear it. I do not believe the Attorney General has any role in this. Now that the scandal is on a national scale, what will the Taoiseach do? We need 100% redress. An amnesty in mortgage repayments while remediation works are taking place is the only option. Earlier, in response to Deputy McDonald, the Taoiseach asked 100% of what was she calling for. What people are calling for is 100% redress and no cost for people to access the scheme, plus rental costs to be covered, the same as for the pyrite action group in Dublin.

It is as simple as that. That is what Donegal demands.

When I visited Donegal last week, it was not a covert visit. The key focus of that was not only to visit a home, meet the Loftus family and see the appalling condition of their home but also to meet the action group, Donegal County Council and the chairperson of the mica action committee on Donegal County Council, Councillor Martin McDermott, who was in the group, to have a long and thorough meeting with them on the issues they wished to raise with me and with the Government in terms of getting this issue resolved. That was the purpose of the visit.

I had to do it in between meetings I had here and going to Fermanagh for the British-Irish Council. I changed my diary and schedule, which is no big deal, but I wanted to meet people. I believe in getting resolutions. I do not showboat on issues like this. I do not try to make political capital out of it. I have no interest in doing that because for the family owners, all that matters is whether they can build a home for their family and their children. That is what they wanted to do originally.

What happened was disgraceful. The supply of those defective blocks was a disgrace; end of story. I have no interest whatsoever in defending those who were responsible for this. I have an interest in getting the issue sorted.

The previous Government, in good faith, developed a scheme. It was welcomed broadly. It was welcomed by Sinn Féin at the time. Few parties or individuals in this House raised this until quite recently, if the truth be told. I looked at some of the manifestos. It does not even get a mention. It is not even mentioned in the Sinn Féin manifesto. People thought the scheme was okay.

When the scheme started being implemented or when applications started going in, it became known to the homeowners that the upfront costs were far too expensive. We will deal with the upfront costs. Anybody who cannot afford it should not have to pay €10,000 or €8,000 upfront to get an engineering report. We will deal with that. We should also deal with the rental issue but we also need to get a proper assessment. What was clear from the meeting was that there will be different solutions for different houses and for houses of different size. People want certain undertakings in respect of what happens if, in the case of a repair, subsequently the issue arises again. These are the kind of issues that need to be resolved.

I understand fully the anger of the homeowners. I understand what they want. It is now our job as the Government, in good faith and working with the group. The Minister has written to the group. He has spoken to them. He has put this idea to them. Let us have a time-limited engagement with homeowners' representatives, with the local authorities, with the Department officials and work through this so that we can improve this scheme in such a way that does not pose an excessive financial hardship on homeowners. That is, in good faith, what I am putting before the House today, what the Minister has put to the Mica Action Group and what we discussed at the meeting on Thursday last.

The time is up. Thank you, Taoiseach.

It was a good, substantive meeting. Analysis can happen already from the applications that have now come in because many of these are individual homes, as well as local authority homes, as the Deputy will be aware, that have to be rectified.

I thank the Taoiseach. I am glad the Taoiseach put it officially on the record today what happened last week at the meeting because it is important that it is on the record that everybody knows.

The Taoiseach stated last week as well - it has been widely reported that the Taoiseach said he would address it but he has not in his response - that he had to talk to the Attorney General about it. What is the role of the Attorney General? I believe the Attorney General has no role and that will be a deflection.

The Taoiseach states that he will have a time-bound process with five to six weeks to respond. By my reckoning, that five to six weeks would be up on 14 July. Can the people of Donegal expect a response from the Taoiseach and the Government on 14 July that will address their concerns? That is vitally important and that is what people need to hear today from the Taoiseach.

That is the intention. This has gone on too long.

I have looked at the timeline as well. I was not in government for the past ten years but this thing has gone on too long. Homeowners have raised legitimate issues. They have got to be dealt with.

I referenced the Attorney General last week. I have an issue with certain people walking away from this. That is my issue. Who supplied the blocks? Who designed them? As for insurance companies and HomeBond, everyone seems to have walked off the pitch. Banks have a role as well. To be fair to Deputy Mac Lochlainn, when he welcomed this, he thought that banks could have played a useful role in helping people. The Mica Action Group signed off in good faith originally as well, but issues have now arisen.

I have discussed this with the Attorney General. The State cannot forever be held accountable alone in respect of behaviours or actions where others fell short, be they in the private sector or elsewhere. That is the only point I was making, and I wanted the Attorney General to examine that, not just for this Government, but for future Governments and, more importantly, for taxpayers.

I do not want this to be distorted, because there can be an element in this kind of debate of comments being distorted. I am very clear about our role in helping the homeowner, but there is a separate piece of work needed as well to examine this in greater detail in terms of how it came to be that thousands and thousands of homes were supplied with an appalling block. Stand up and-----

I thank the Taoiseach, but our time is up.

Put your hand on the windowsill and it crumbles. To me, that does need to be pursued. That is what I meant.