I support Deputy Ward in the points he made. The number of amendments that were ruled out of order, particularly in relation to the public inquiry, is disappointing. There is much that we need to learn from what has happened and from what is going on. There is a real lack of accountability in the whole response that we have seen so far. It is very interesting. The Oireachtas Library and Research Service produced a briefing paper on the Bill. It is quite shocking to look at the tiny number of actual applications that were processed by the Housing Agency. There were over 2,500 applications but fewer than 1,000 were gone through. How many years is it now? We are 14 years in. When are we actually going to seriously address this? My concern is that, given what has been put forward, we will see more problems and the scheme not developed properly. I continue to be very concerned about it.

Sentiment score: -0.07

I want to speak to and support the amendments. The starting point is that, as I have said before in this Chamber, housing is a fundamental human right. I do not think it is a coincidence that there is no mention of housing being a human right in the Government's new housing plan, because what is going on in Donegal, Mayo and other counties, including Limerick, Sligo and Clare, shows why housing is a fundamental human right. We have people, children and families living in housing situations that are completely unsustainable, with holes in walls, children crying and worrying about whether the house will fall down, and families and parents crying at night wondering what they are going to do in these homes. They feel completely unsafe. I have written about the psychological concept called ontological security. It is the sense that we feel completely secure in ourselves as people and in where we are. In housing, that concept is applied to the notion of your home being somewhere where you feel safe deep inside yourself. It is not just whether you are safe from threat of violence, but whether you can rest and be at peace there. In Donegal, Sligo, Limerick and Clare, people clearly cannot be at peace in their homes when their homes are literally crumbling around them. That is why housing has to be treated as a fundamental human right, particularly the standard of that housing. I referred earlier to the briefing paper provided by the Oireachtas. The figures are stark and show that what is currently being done by the Government about defective concrete is absolutely inadequate. Of 3,000 applicants, the number of applicants who have commenced work on both schemes is just 1,000. The number of applicants who have completed the works is just 324. At that rate, it will be next century before the actual issues of defective blocks, defective concrete and defective building materials are dealt with. Donegal is suffering a housing crisis and housing disaster like nowhere else. Where will people go when the work is being done? I just looked on daft.ie. There are just 35 places to rent in Donegal. There were 83 evictions in Donegal in the third quarter of this year. As many evictions will probably happen this year as the number of applicants who have actually had the remediation works completed. There is a cluster of multiple housing crises in Donegal and in the other counties affected. One in four is living on a low income. Where will people get the money to cover the costs when it is not 100% redress? In my view, what it shows is the complete failure of a market approach to housing and the complete failure of regulation. There is no prospect of the disaster that is being lived in Donegal right now being dealt with if we rely on the market to solve it. That is where the State has to intervene. It has to intervene to provide 100% redress. It has to start looking at finance and actually supporting homeowners to have the finance to be able to rebuild, including borrowing and low interest rates, to cover the costs. Where are people going to get the money to do the rebuilding? The idea that they somehow are going to front it up is not on. The employment of construction workers was raised. Who will do the construction? A factory in Cavan which builds modular homes has shut down because of the lack of work and yet the State would not step in, buy it and start producing modular homes that people could move into and the work could be done. The State has to step in in a way that we have not seen this State do since the 1950s and 1960s. It has to do it in Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Clare, and it needs to be part of us solving our housing crisis. We have a housing crisis in Donegal, as I said, and in these counties where people's homes are crumbling. We also have homelessness there. We have people who cannot afford to rent. We have a generation leaving the country. We have homes that are not up to standard in my constituency, in Ballymun and Finglas. The housing issue in this country is an absolute disaster. It is not just people who cannot buy a home but the quality of homes. The private sector, the market, does not have the capacity to deal with it. We need an emergency State intervention. I believe that requires a State construction company. It requires State finance. It requires the State stepping in or else we will be left with people living in substandard homes, in dangerous homes and without a home, not just for decades to come but, as I said, into the next century.

Sentiment score: -0.10

I support the comments made on this. Given that the previous Minister and Government had essentially encouraged people to apply and they did that in good faith, it seems deeply unfair that they are now being disadvantaged. I think that is unfair and the Minister should explain why that is the situation.

Sentiment score: 0.07