Paul Murphy demands 100% redress for homeowners with defects
Paul Murphy addressed the Dáil on 15 December 2022 about widespread latent defects in homes and criticized the government's timing and response. He demanded 100% redress, full retrospection and rapid action, warning homeowners will not accept anything less.
Timing and transparency
The speaker criticised the timing of the government's proposal, noting it was due at the final Cabinet meeting before Christmas and observing there was no Dáil sitting to debate it. He said this timing looks suspicious and risks limiting media and parliamentary scrutiny.
History and causes
Murphy said the minister's statement contained no history of how the crisis developed and pointed to a regime of self-certification introduced when Fine Gael was in government and passed into law when Fianna Fáil was in government. He described warnings at the time about the dangers of that approach and blamed developers and builders for cutting corners, saying about 100,000 families are affected with an average bill of €25,000 and perhaps 80% of buildings from 1991 to 2013 impacted.
Critique of government language
He attacked the repeated promise "we will help," saying it implies the problem is homeowners' fault and infuriates those affected. He noted protesters chanting "not our fault" and said the phrase understates the state's and industry responsibility for the defects.
Demands for redress
Murphy spelled out what homeowners want: 100% redress, full retrospection, rapid implementation and the state to pursue the builders responsible. He warned that campaigners will be alert to any scheme that claims 100% redress in headline terms but undermines it in fine print, citing the MICA experience as a caution.
Campaigners and consequences
He paid tribute to those campaigning while living in unsafe or stressful conditions and warned the government that anything less than full redress will intensify the campaign and not be accepted by affected homeowners.
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I think it is very unfortunate that we are here on the final normal day of the Dáil, debating this issue, and we do not have the proposal that is going to be brought just next week to Cabinet. Every time we have asked about this, over the past number of months, we have been told again and again and again that I am going to bring a proposal to Cabinet before Christmas. And so literally the final meeting of the Cabinet before Christmas is when it is going to happen, and I really hope that it is just a coincidence that that so happens to be a time when there is no doll sitting to discuss what is being brought forward, and the media will have their attention elsewhere and not be able to or will not significantly be reflecting discussion and so on on it. I hope I am wrong about that. I hope that is purely a coincidence, but I think it is suspicious to say the least. The second point is that it is very striking that in the Minister's statement there is no history to this at all. It is like as a society we just slipped and fell into a situation where 100,000 families have apartments or duplexes with latent defects which make them unsafe in many circumstances and leave them with an average bill of 25,000 euros. Most of those people do not know that they are affected yet. There is no explanation of how we got here. Why is that? Presumably because the reason we got here is because of a regime of self-certification which was introduced first when Fine Gael was in government, introduced into the Dáil, and then passed into legislation when Fianna Fáil was in government. A scheme that you were warned about at the time, very, very clearly. To quote Eamonn Gilmour and the Workers' Party at the time, the principle of being enshrined in this section is very dangerous. It will expose people who are buying homes to buying products which are substandard against which they will have no comeback. Despite that warning, you went ahead with it, which opened up the door to developers, to builders, cutting corners, putting people's lives at risk and costing them huge amounts of money. Absolutely scandalous. That brings me to the next point, which is that the Minister says, and he said it repeatedly, we will help. We will help. From my experience of the people who are affected by this issue, that language drives them absolutely wild. Because it implies that this is their fault, but you very generously are going to step in and give them a dig out. Some sort of assistance with the problem. This is not their fault. If you would have been outside the Dáil last night, you would have seen many people outside chanting, not our fault, not our fault. They feel it extremely strongly, because it is the fault of Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael who introduced this legislation, and it is the fault of the cowboy developers and builders who used this legislation, abused it, in order to cut corners. And it is not just a small number of them, by virtue of the fact that maybe 80% of buildings between 1991 and 2013 are affected. The answer, what they want is not help, what they want is very clear, 100% redress, full retrospection, done rapidly, the state to pursue the builders responsible. It is very, very simple. I do not understand why we are so long on now from the original report from the working group, why we cannot have this before us. I am not saying the implementation of it can be done overnight, of course not, but the principles should be announced immediately. And if it does not meet those things, it will not be accepted. I want to say that very, very clearly. I did a leader's question with Pascal Dunnehy a couple of weeks ago, and he said, you won't be satisfied no matter what. If it is those things, I will be satisfied. The homeowners will be satisfied. If it isn't, they will not be satisfied at all, and the campaign will be kicking up a gear. And to reflect on the point that Deputy McLaughlin made, they are very, very aware that the people affected by MICA got a scheme which said 100% redress in the headline, and then had a bit of small text, which meant that it is not 100% redress. So they will be on the lookout for that, and they will not be fooled. I want to finally just pay tribute to those who have spoken out, who are living in conditions where they cannot sleep sometimes because of fear of what can happen to their home. But they have put their energy into campaigning, to protest, and to speak about their own personal experience, to put massive pressure on you. They are a formidable group of people, and I warn the government, if they give them anything less than 100% redress, you will be making a very, very big mistake. Deputy Boyd Barrett Deputy Boyd Barrett Deputy Boyd Barrett
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