Micheál Martin acknowledged there is no definitive figure as to the overall cost of the scheme
The Taoiseach was asked about the scheme after delivering the opening address at a conference on the Civil War at University College Cork. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA WireTaoiseach Micheál Martin has acknowledged that the Government’s scheme to compensate those whose houses have been affected by damaged blocks could exceed the highest current estimate of €3.65 billion, but he said the scheme was necessary to ensure people had proper homes to live in.
He acknowledged there is no definitive estimate of how long it might be before problems emerge, which also made it difficult to come up with a definitive figure as to the overall cost, but the most important step now was to start work on making houses safe or providing new houses. Asked about the scheme after delivering the opening address at a conference on the Civil War at University College Cork, Mr Martin stoutly defended the scheme, saying it needs to be rolled out quickly as people are in difficult circumstances with fissures and cracks appearing in some homes.
Mr Martin said that he expected the picture will become clearer as work starts on demolition and reconstruction or on remediation, but he said it appeared to him that some of the calculations as to the number of houses affected were “loose enough”. “Some of them are quite large but to be fair, they are in the minority, and I think we have to look at this in the round –what’s important here is that a lot of trauma and insecurity has developed in families who are living in houses that are no longer, in some cases, fit for purpose.
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