As the Taoiseach knows, children from Donegal whose families have been affected and devastated by the mica scandal are protesting outside the Dáil and are standing in the rain as we speak. They left their homes and the hills of Donegal at 6 a.m. this morning. These children should not have had to travel all the way to Dublin. Like all others, these children should enjoy a carefree childhood and they should not have to worry about their homes crumbling around them. They should not have to witness the intense and often unbearable pressure that their parents and wider families live with every day.

On Monday we heard from Mackenzie McDaid, aged 12, speaking about how living in a mica-affected home impacts on her. She said:

I worry when I go to sleep that the roof is going to fall on top of me. I was sleeping in my bedroom and I heard a big bang and a big pile of plaster had fallen off the wall. There are 15 out of 16 in my class who have mica and know that they have mica. We would be very worried and we kind of comfort each other by talking to each other about it.

Outside the gates of the Dáil this morning more children told me of how they wish their home to be their happy place. They asked why they have to be afraid when they are playing in their home place. They had written to the Taoiseach and they asked him to come out and meet them. They are disappointed that they have not seen the Taoiseach and they want him to come out, look them in the eye and explain to them why they are living this nightmare.

The mica and pyrite scandal affects families in Donegal as well as families in Mayo, Sligo, Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. Support for all these victims of mica and pyrite is not just national but international because all of us can at least try to understand the heartache and trauma of your family home and sanctuary crumbling around you. The impact on people's mental health and relationships has been immense and families have been broken by this. In June I visited some of the homes again and on that visit I heard the stories of gable walls cracking, chimneys about to collapse and all of the misery this causes. I have spoken to people who live in caravans but who still pay a big mortgage for a home that is disintegrating. These families have asked me time and again to put their cases front and centre. That is why the motion for 100% redress came in June and it was passed unanimously by the Dáil but it seems to me it is being ignored by the Government.

Níl sé seo cóir ar na teaghlaigh seo. Tá cabhair uathu ón Rialtas chun deireadh a chur lena bpian. Dúirt an Taoiseach, an tAire Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta agus an tAire Caiteachais Phoiblí agus Athchóirithe go dtabharfadh siad cúnamh dóibh ach táimid anseo arís le leanaí ag agóid taobh amuigh den Dáil ionas go n-éistfidh an Rialtas leo. Caithfear seo a cheartú. I note that the Minister is to brief the Taoiseach and other leaders on a revised mica redress scheme this week but the only thing the families want to, need to or should hear is that the Government will deliver 100% redress, no ifs, buts or maybes. Those affected by the scandal have had their fill of promises and they have had enough tea and sympathy from Government. They want a solution. These families wait and wait while staring at cracks in their homes and enduring the cracks in their lives. This is a matter of justice. Does the Taoiseach support 100% redress? I want him to make that clear and to tell those standing outside that 100% redress is what will be delivered.

I checked with officials in my office before coming here and my office was not aware that an invitation had been issued to me to meet the group today. The Deputy should not politicise the issue in the way she did. I will meet groups and I went to Donegal and met homeowners. No party in this House has a monopoly on empathy and the Deputy does not either. Sinn Féin did not make this an issue in the 2020 general election. The reality is that there was not one mention of mica in its 2020 manifesto. In January 2020 Deputy Mac Lochlainn welcomed in good faith the scheme the last Government brought in.

This Government has been in office 15 months but the situation is shocking and it is terrible that children have to be outside Leinster House. We have heard the message and we want to get this comprehensively resolved for the owners of the homes. The homes are in a terrible condition in many instances and a range of issues have to be addressed. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, set up a working group arising from meetings I had in Donegal with homeowners and Donegal County Council during the summer. The mechanism by which the new scheme will have to be administered is key. It is not as simple as the Deputy presents it but things, of course, never are. The Deputy, from her perspective, will present it in a simplistic way.

Enormous provision will have to be made to deal with the mica situation to refurbish housing, to give guarantees and to underpin people's sense of security in their homes for the long term. A range of actors are involved in this, including insurance companies, and it seems to me that a lot of people have left the scene. The Government is now the one agency that can help the residents and homeowners and it intends to do that in a comprehensive way. The scheme will be far more significant than the last scheme, which was significant in itself and which the Deputy welcomed at the time.

Yes, and it failed.

You and Deputy Mac Lochlainn thought it was okay so let us not be all self-righteous, coming in and saying that you are the great guardian and defender. You are recreating the narrative.

There is no narrative.

I do not want to get into a political spat about this. I accept the genuine views of everybody in this House and I accept that they want this issue resolved for the residents involved. This situation has far-reaching implications nationally as well. Other counties are manifesting mica problems also and the Government has to take all those implications on board. The action we take on mica will have follow-on and consequential implications for other situations in housing so we are conscious of that.

Suffice to say that we accept that for children to grow up in that situation is unacceptable. It is shocking that bricks were produced to that poor quality, which has resulted in dangerous structures and which has ruined the dreams of many families. It is a basic human objective in life to provide safe and secure shelter for one's children and family and that has been ruined for many families because of the mica scandal. It falls to this Government, which has been in office for 15 months. We met the groups concerned during the summer and we are determined to comprehensively resolve this in the interests of the children and families who are picketing outside.

I cannot think of a more appropriately political issue than protecting and vindicating the rights of children. That is politics. The political choices made around this issue are what define the agony, torment and upset those children endure. You designed a scheme and it failed. We need a scheme that works.

I did not design any scheme.

Such a scheme would provide 100% redress for these families. I asked the Taoiseach a straightforward question; does he support and will he deliver 100% redress? I have heard alibis, excuses and an attack on my motivations but I have not heard any clarity from the Taoiseach and Head of Government. It is the Taoiseach's job to ensure these children get the relief and vindication of their rights that they deserve. As the Taoiseach is in the hot seat, I want to ask this simple question again. Does the Taoiseach support 100% redress or not? It is as simple as that.

It is extremely important that the Deputy does not continually present misinformation to the House. She just said that I designed a scheme; I designed no scheme.

I was referring to the Taoiseach's Government.

The last Government designed the scheme.

Did the Taoiseach not have anything to do with that?

No, because we were not in government. The Deputy keeps pedalling untruth, fake news and populism.

Answer the question.

It is all for political ends and electoral ends. Every time the Deputy does it, I will stop her in her tracks and say, "Stop peddling disinformation." I did not design any scheme and you know that-----

Answer the question.

-----and you should acknowledge that, through the Chair. You should acknowledge that and keep to the truth.

Answer the question.

The last scheme was prepared in good faith by the last Government-----

It did not work.

-----which was welcomed by Sinn Féin at the time. The scheme has to change. The residents that I met put very good issues to me at the time regarding upfront costs in terms of rental if they were out of their homes when the houses were being refurbished, but also certification so that if there was remedial work done and something happened in ten or 15 years' time, they would be covered. All of these were very legitimate issues, and that is the kind of engagement that has taken place-----

The Taoiseach is not answering the question.

No.

Answer the question.

-----between the owners and the Minister. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will come to the party leaders and the Government will then take a decision on that and share that with the House.

Yes or no.