This year, I and other County Donegal Deputies have raised issues around the defective blocks scheme 44 times in various debates in this Chamber. More than 240 parliamentary questions have been put down by Members across the House. Yet, each time I have raised this matter with the Tánaiste or Taoiseach in whichever of the rotating roles they happen to be occupying at the time, the concerns and questions I have raised on behalf of my constituents in Donegal have been treated dismissively, with trumpeting talk of a €3.5 billion scheme, which is the biggest in the history of the State, etc. Tuesday’s budget commits only €70 million next year to this flawed scheme, which includes the pyrite remediation scheme. It is less than what the Government is doling out to the horse and greyhound industry.

There is often a Pontius Pilate-like attitude to the Government's engagements on the issue. Today, I need more of a Pauline attitude if possible, since we are on the New Testament, as the Tánaiste said. I need the Tánaiste to listen and answer the question asked concisely without superfluous waffle. Due to the ineffectual leadership of the Government on this issue, affected homeowners in Donegal have taken the initiative in meeting with the banking industry, the insurance industry and various Ministers to articulate their concerns, and they have had good success where the Government has failed. One recent example is where they have secured with the banks, in principle, access to 0% finance to bridge the enormous gap in funding between what the Government's flawed scheme offers and the reality of what is needed.

Questions remain, however, on the lack of urgency regarding engagement from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, along with conflicting responses coming from the Government and the banking industry. Just this week, the banking and insurance focus group was informed by banks that there has been no dialogue on the damage clause-return to mortgageable condition under each of the remediation options between them and the Department. Homeowners need to know that when they engage with the scheme, their property will be returned to what the bank terms a mortgageable condition. Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, has told the focus group that the Department is going to establish a working group to look at the various financial issues raised, yet in a parliamentary question response to me on Tuesday there was no such commitment from the Minister.

My question is this. Will the Government commit to establishing a working group to look at the specific issues that the redress focus group on banking and insurance has identified and raised with the Ministers for Finance and Housing, Local Government and Heritage? Will the Government commit to including representation from the redress focus group on banking and insurance on that working group, alongside other relevant stakeholders?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue but he should acknowledge that the Government has fundamentally overhauled the defective blocks scheme. The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 provides for 100% grant funding for eligible homeowners. It commenced on 22 June 2023 and regulations were adopted on 29 June this year. That enhanced scheme is now open for applications. It will provide financial support to affected homeowners in counties Donegal, Mayo, Limerick and Clare whose dwellings have been damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks.

Grants of up to €420,000 are available to affected homeowners, depending on the works required, under the scheme. Transitional arrangements for the transfer of applicants from the current scheme to the new enhanced scheme are in place. The final regulations were the result of extended and extensive consultation with key stakeholders, particularly local authorities and homeowner action groups. The enhanced scheme also provides an evidence-based system for new counties, or parts of counties, to be designated as required following a technical assessment by the Housing Agency. The new scheme is a remediation grant scheme of last resort put in place by the Government in order to voluntarily assist homeowners to remediate damage caused by the use of defective concrete blocks. There is no question about it and the Deputy knows the details of it. I find some of the language he used in dismissing the scheme difficult, especially when we are looking at a €2.3 billion commitment and provision for it.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has set up an implementation steering group for the scheme comprising officials from relevant local authorities, the Department, the Housing Agency and the homeowners' liaison officer. In respect of the financial issue, again, the Department has had a number of engagements with the BPFI on specific issues raised by defective concrete block homeowners to see what can be done to address their concerns. The Department has received an interim funding proposal from the BPFI. Officials from the Department met on Thursday, 28 September to review and discuss with BPFI officials the proposals for a low-interest loan. Given its role in this area, the Department of Finance is currently engaging directly with the BPFI on the proposal. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has stressed the need for a fair and consistent approach to be taken by the banking sector with customers dealing with the effects of defective concrete blocks on their houses.

Approximately 1,644 applications were received under the old scheme and 60 under the enhanced scheme up to 31 August this year. Some 340 of these applications were referred to the Housing Agency. These comprised 323 from County Donegal relating to the old scheme, nine from County Mayo with two relating to the enhanced scheme, and eight from County Clare. The total amount paid out so far to local authorities is about €24 million, which includes approximately €2.6 million related to administrative fees.

The Tánaiste and Ministers continuously go on about a 100% redress scheme. The redress scheme is nowhere near 100% redress. Householders are looking at an average of €50,000 to €70,000 to pay for redress under the Government's 100% redress scheme. That is nonsensical. Every Minister continuously mentions 100% redress, as if it will happen if they say it often enough. It will not happen. That is the problem. The Government is doing nothing to engage with householders on how to bridge that gap. Householders have had to go out themselves to meet the banks, the Central Bank and those in the insurance industry. The banks have said to them that there have been no discussions about the mortgageable value of the house afterwards, which is how a homeowner could get a mortgage and sell his or her property after it is repaired under the so-called 100% redress scheme.

That is the question and that is the fact that families are facing right across the board. The Tánaiste spoke about the €2.3 billion scheme. Based on his own figures, it will take 40 or 50 years to spend that sum, based on the amount of redress that has taken place. This scheme is a problem that will go around for years to come and that people will have to live with. The reality is for this to even come close to being a 100% redress scheme, the banks have to be able to work with the people they give the loans to-----

I thank the Deputy.

-----and actually give them the money to get into the scheme.

I thank the Deputy. We are now over time.

Will the Tánaiste engage with them to make sure that happens? That is what I ask.

They are.

They are not.

The Government is engaging with the BPFI. The Minister has, in the broader scheme, set up an implementation group in respect of delivering on it and people are applying to the scheme. I have met various groups in the past on this matter as well. There has been a lot of engagement particularly between the Department with responsibility for housing and other groups. I note the constant dismissal of what, by any yardstick or any precedent, is an unprecedented intervention that involves using the people's money - it is not our money - to try to help people to come through a terrible situation. There are many issues around the defective concrete block issue but the Government, in the interests of those homeowners, has decided to intervene to essentially rebuild their homes.

The Government caused it.

The Government did not cause the crisis.

Yes, it did.

I do not accept that at all. That is for another day.

Please Deputies.

The more important point is getting the houses built, getting delivery on the ground through the local authorities, getting action, and getting the thing done.

I thank the Tánaiste. The time is up.

We are interested in getting it done, moving on it and facilitating that. The Minister for Finance and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage have facilitated this with the BPFI.