I had planned to come in here and cautiously welcome the revisions made in the so-called enhanced mica redress scheme. However, having watched the press conference given by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, I am shocked at what is emerging, as I was by the Taoiseach's response to an earlier question. It appeared on some levels that the Government had finally listened to the victims of its failures of oversight and regulation and intended legislating for that. However, we will have to keep a watching eye over that as well. There is a touch of the ghost of Christmas past here in that when the previous iteration was cobbled together just prior to the general election, it was sold by Government Deputies in County Donegal as being much more than it was. It appears to me that Donegal families are facing the same again, despite this morning's fanfare of leaks from the Cabinet. Many of the county's mica-affected homeowners are still not sure if they can see a Christmas future under the new scheme.

I have just spoken to members of the Mica Action Group, who confirmed that when the Minister spoke to them this morning, there was no mention of a split rate or sliding scale. He talked about the price per square foot and that was it. He stated today that the sliding scale will be €110 per square foot after the first 1,000 sq. ft. This means, as was outlined earlier, that for the average 2,300 sq. ft house in Donegal, there will be a deficit of €45,000 still to be met by the homeowner, which is almost 15% of the cost. It is not a 90:10 scheme and it was not going to be. I stated in my manifesto that I was opposed to the previous mica scheme because it was not adequate to meet the needs of homeowners, which has been proven right. I also responded to the Minister's request for submissions on the scheme on 11 August this year.

It is time for the Taoiseach to be honest that he is not delivering 100% redress. He can dress it up whatever way he wants but the mica-affected homeowners will not be hoodwinked again. I think there is going to be a real soul-searching on their part. Is the Taoiseach going to have a proper scheme that will compensate families properly, so that they do not have exorbitant costs to meet under the scheme?

It is not on; they cannot afford it. That is what is going to happen. Is the Taoiseach saying that the figures I quoted are wrong? Can he show where they are wrong?

As I said at the outset, the scheme, as currently structured, will cost approximately €2.2 billion for 6,000 to 7,000 homes. That is a substantial contribution by the taxpayer of today and the future and the Exchequer to any housing remediation scheme. That needs to be acknowledged in the first instance.

The Government caused the problem.

We did not cause any problems.

No regulation.

I did not cause any problems. Everyone in life has responsibilities. Let us stop trying to excuse people on the ground of regulations. There are regulatory frameworks today and there were regulatory framework then. Certain people did not adhere to them. That is the point. No one will ever call that out because it does not suit them to call it out. The Government must always be the first resort.

I have no issue with sorting this out and helping families to rebuild their homes. I have been in a house where I have seen how devastating this is for families. We need to rebuild these houses, but we need to get on with it and get it done.

I have been in government for approximately 18 months of this. This has been going on for years. Deputy Pringle has been a Member for ten years. This has been going on for too long. We can have more and more campaigns, but nothing gets done in the meantime. We can get the scheme up and running. In my view, this scheme is a very good accommodation.

When we first met, homeowners had to put up all of the upfront costs themselves. That has been taken out. In addition, a €20,000 facility will be made available for rental, something which was not available in the past. A facility for storage was not available under the previous scheme. We should use the methodology used by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland, which has it will change the square footage rate on an annual basis to meet the current market position. Let us depoliticise the methodology around this. That is what the scheme provides for.

Let us look at the valuations. I accept it is not exactly the same, but in terms of the LPT, up to 36,000 homes will be valued at between zero to €200,000 in Donegal. The cap is up to €420,000. The first 1,000 sq. ft will be capped at €145 per sq. ft. That could change in April when the society updates the figures. There are no upfront costs for homeowners on this occasion. The Housing Agency will play a central role in helping homeowners to deal with this.

Why not run the whole scheme?

That is very important.

Let the Housing Agency run the whole scheme.

I do not think the existing arrangements were adequate in managing a scheme of this scale. The Government wants to do right by the homeowners. The comprehensive nature of this scheme, which includes rental properties, something that was not included in the previous scheme, is a significant advance.

There is no doubt that the scheme is an advance, but the problem is that it does not go far enough. Families are in the same situation now as they were before.

No, they are not.

Yes, they are. If they could not afford the previous scheme, they cannot afford this scheme.

Let him speak.

That is the reality of the situation. People with 2,300 sq. ft houses have to come up with €45,000. Such houses have to be rebuilt, and under the scheme people are not allowed to change the house to qualify. People will have those costs regardless of the situation. That is the problem these families have. They are paying mortgages. As these houses are repaired, they will have to continue paying their mortgages. They will then have to find additional money to deal with this.

The Taoiseach also said they are responsible for the breach in the regulations. No, they are not.

Not them. Not the residents.

That is what the Taoiseach said.

I did not.

He did. He said the people have to take responsibility for-----

Yes, those who produced the defective blocks.

That is what he said.

Take that back, please. I think the Deputy should take that back.

Okay, if that is what the Taoiseach did not say, I take it back.

I think the Deputy should take that back.

I take it back. I said it already. The reality is that lack of regulation or light-touch regulation caused this problem.

Thank you, Deputy. We are over time now. My lapse is over.

Fair enough. The reality is that light-touch regulations caused this problem and that has to be dealt with as well. Is the Taoiseach saying that people will not have to pay €45,000 for an average house?

The rationale for doing this scheme is to help homeowners to be able to rebuild their homes. That is the only rationale. This level of State intervention is unprecedented. It has never happened previously at the level it is happening now. It is because it is a social priority. In other words, we believe the residents and homeowners in Donegal, given the situation in which they find themselves, are not in a position to rebuild these homes. It is not their fault the blocks were defective. That is my point - the blocks were defective. These people did not know that. Let us be very clear here and let there not be any implication that I was blaming homeowners. That would be wrong, and anything I have said today is the contrary of that. We must help the homeowners. That is the spirit and ethos of our scheme. It is designed to enable the homeowners to rebuild their homes and to ensure they will not have expenses while they are rebuilding those homes or having them rebuilt, through the €20,000 for the rent and the storage. In the methodology we have deployed, through using the work of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, that is the best approach to deal with the cost issue.

That is not the approach the Government signed off on.

We are moving on to the next speaker.

The Taoiseach is misleading the Dáil. The SCSI does not have a drop down of €110.

The Deputy knows well that are rules in respect of questions and answers.

He is hiding behind the SCSI which does not come up with the costing he has come up with.

I have to move on to the Rural Independent Group. I call Deputy Michael Collins. Deputies should allow him to speak uninterrupted.