It is bewildering the amount of hype and positivity there is on the Government benches at the local election results which have delivered to the Government net seat losses overall. The Government is entitled to celebrate, and I say, "Fair play to you". Political squabbling will go on between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and them and Sinn Féin and so on, but, in Donegal, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have returned with only two thirds of the seats they won in 2019, with many of their sitting councillors scraping in on last counts. The 100% Redress Party topped the poll in the Carndonagh electoral area, which is the back yard of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and took four council seats in total. It is now a larger party than Fine Gael on the council and there is a clear message for Government here from the people of Donegal in respect of the defective block redress crisis.

Redress is not working for the thousands of people who are living in crumbling homes across the constituency. They see no end to the saga. They see no future for their families and children and they see no way out of the distress that is ruining their lives. They are a strong and stoic people but they are at the end of their tether. They have repeatedly told the Government why the scheme will not work for them. Now they have used the electoral system to deliver their message. They have elected Ali Farren in Carndonagh, Joy Beard in Buncrana, Tomás Divine in Letterkenny and Denis McGee in Gweedore to reinforce their message.

I have raised this issue more than 50 times on the floor of the House during the term of this current Dáil and each and every time, I and other Opposition TDs from the county get the same old rhetoric from the Taoiseach and the Government. They quote figures. They tell me it is the biggest scheme ever of its kind. They look at me dismissively, as if to say, "That is sorted. Why are you bringing it up here again?", but they do not really listen. They have not listened as we give voice to the real concerns the families have living with defective blocks, but now the Taoiseach has a chance to do so.

The stark reality is plain to see. The scheme is not working. It does not reflect the science that has emerged - science that was driven by the defective block campaign itself, not by Departments or the political system. The scheme is failing the families across Donegal whose lives are devastated by the defective blocks. The defective blocks crisis also affects community buildings, public buildings and everything built in the past 20 years in the county, reflecting a failed self-certification system brought in by Governments of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The Taoiseach has a chance to fix this. My advice is that he should take it. He should make a scheme that, once and for all, reflects and works to address the needs of all families in Donegal and, indeed, those across the country as the scheme widens. Will the Taoiseach, once and for all, address the failures of the defective block redress scheme and make a scheme that is fit for purpose?

I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this issue. I know this has been extraordinarily tough and difficult. Those words do not fully capture the struggle and the stress that many families living in the Deputy's county and some other counties have been dealing with as a result of the loss and destruction of their homes due to defective blocks. We have worked very hard on this issue as a Government. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, has worked very hard on this at the Cabinet table with our colleagues as well.

We have now seen over 1,600 applications. These are real applications from real people. I ask the Deputy not to roll his eyes to heaven. They have been received to the previous scheme and now we have received more than 350 additional applications to the enhanced scheme up to the end of February of this year. This is a lot of people. This is 1,950 applications.

The 2022 Act, which we passed, underpins the new enhanced grant scheme and it has designated the counties of Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo as being within the enhanced scheme. The final regulations were put in place as a result of an extended and extensive amount of consultation with key stakeholders, particularly the local authorities and the homeowner action groups.

The Minister for housing received Government approval last month for the designation of Sligo County Council under the scheme and will now arrange for the moving of a motion for a resolution in each House of the Oireachtas and then bring a second memorandum to Government seeking to give effect to that as well.

The Housing Agency is currently working through the process with three additional local authorities, in counties Carlow and Wexford and with Fingal County Council.

The Cabinet agreed today to try to resolve various issues highlighted by affected homeowners looking to avail of SEAI support. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will announce details of that in due course. He has worked hard on that as well. We have also set up, under the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, an implementation steering group for the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme. This includes officials from the relevant councils, the Department and the Housing Agency, as well as the homeowners liaison officer. The group has met several times over the past number of months. It is charged with keeping the regulations and guidelines, and their operation, under review and will continue to do so. We will continue to engage and to listen.

Homes are now being remediated. Homes have been remediated. This scheme, and it is a large scheme, is making a real and positive impact. Even in the actions we took today at Cabinet, we are showing an ongoing willingness to listen and to try to respond as best we can. The scheme is open and applications are coming in. I hope this will at last make a real and meaningful difference to many families.

There is no doubt the scheme is open and, as the Taoiseach said, there have been 1,500 applications, but thousands upon thousands of houses have to be redressed. It is a scheme that will last 25 or 30 years, at the rate the Government is going at present. It is a scheme that does not meet the needs of many people. There are people in their 50s and early 60s who are looking at having a build cost of €50,000 to €80,000 just to redress their houses. This is not a 100% scheme. The Government lauded it as such, but people will be paying €50,000 to €80,000 to get into a 100% redress scheme. This does not make sense. It does not suit families. Those people cannot go to a bank to remortgage because banks will not give them anything. Many of them are pensioners who cannot go on. The scheme cannot be willed on so they cannot even do it in that way. These are things the Government could do to make changes. Indeed, on mortgageability, houses will not be mortgageable after families get redress. Campaign groups have been trying to get the Government to address this. A meeting at the Department was postponed four times. I do not think it has met since January. That is wrong. The scheme is not meeting the needs of the people who need it. We will be here for many years to come at the rate the Government is currently going.

I gave the Deputy figures to the end of February but I have just seen that to the end of April we have had 1,644 applications to the previous scheme and 436 to the enhanced scheme. That is just for the record because it is important to give the most up-to-date figures. Today, we took-----

It is 29 years at the last-----

The Deputy knows this is a serious issue. I am trying to respond with the seriousness the issue deserves, if that is okay.

Today, the Government took another decision that will benefit householders in the Deputy's constituency to the tune of tens of thousands of euro. These are substantive decisions that were taken. When we are in government, we do not just point out the problems; we also have to work to come up with the solutions. We took another decision today that I hope will show people in the Deputy's constituency, which I believe it will, and people in other affected counties, that the Government is listening. As issues arise as the scheme progresses, we are trying to respond. Today's decision is one very practical example of that. We will continue to listen and to try to respond as best we can.

People are applying to this scheme today. Homes are being remediated. The implementation group is in place. I would like to see the engagement the Deputy mentioned, which has not taken place, take place. I will certainly follow up with the Department of housing on that.