I have just come from the audiovisual room where we launched the report on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the apartment and duplex defects remediation Bill. It is an important step for many householders who have been living with structural, fire safety and water ingress defects through no fault of their own. It represents a huge step forward and a necessary commitment by the State. It is equally important that we confront a gap, which I have raised in point No. 4.7 in the report. We are urging the Minister to go for the developers, the certifiers and insurers to make sure there is recovery and accountability so that there is responsibility and the taxpayer does not fund all of the remediation, where possible. Given that the scale of the scheme is potentially up to €2.5 billion, it is essential that the State clarify how recovery from responsible parties will be pursued. Taxpayers cannot be left once again carrying an open-ended liability for failures in design, workmanship or oversight. My point No. 4.7 seeks to ensure remediation is delivered swiftly and fairly.

On another note, at our homeless cafe last night, namely, the Lighthouse on Pearse Street, we had five Members of Leinster House and both past and present employees playing wonderful Irish music to our homeless guests. The previous Clerk of the Seanad, Martin Groves, led the band and they were fantastic. I have high hopes for Martin Hughes in the future, when he retires.