Leo Varadkar rules out ditching concrete levy as society must bear cost
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Tanáiste Leo Varadkar has ruled out abandoning a controversial concrete levy and said the cost of the defective blocks problem must be borne by society.
Mr Varadkar said that the mica problem was probably going to cost billions of euro and something would also have to be done for defective apartment blocks.
He was speaking during Leaders’ Questions and responding to Social Democrats housing spokesperson, Cian O'Callaghan, who branded the initiative as "grossly unfair".
Backbench TDs in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have called for the 10% levy to be scrapped or postponed as representatives in the construction industry warned it will only push up house prices between €3,000 and €4,000.
Mr O’Callaghan argued the cost of defective building work should not fall onto the shoulders of people trying to buy homes when house prices have now surpassed the Celtic Tiger peak. Mr Varadkar argued that quarries are not going to be able to come up with the money.
The Tanáiste also faced calls to extend the moratorium on disconnections for electricity and gas customers through the winter to pay-as-you-go customers. People Before Profit TD Mick Barry said that roughly 10% of energy users, or about 200,000 homes, are on pay-as-you-go contracts.
He warned that those customers now face the prospect of disconnection which he said is "a scandal".
Mr Varadkar said Ministers Eamon Ryan and Heather Humphreys will try to find a mechanism to help those particular hardship cases where the other Government supports are not enough and to protect pay-as-you-go customers.
He said that "ideally" the moratorium should apply to everyone and warned gas bills in particular will “present difficulties” over the next few months.
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty hit out at Mr Varadkar and said the Government was failing children. He said there are 17,000 children waiting on initial contact with the children's disability team and 2,500 children that are waiting and overdue an assessment of needs.
He said the families of these children are entitled to the service “but they are being failed by a system which is totally unable to meet their needs.”
The Donegal TD said: “The number of these assessments carried out by the HSE has plummeted, thousands of children are being failed by the State, left in limbo waiting for care that they're entitled to.”
He said delayed access means delayed access to supports and called on Mr Varadkar to rethink the Government’s budgetary decision to meet the needs of these children. In response, Mr Varadkar said it is not a matter of money but recruitment of staff is a challenge.
He said perhaps a change in approach is needed to the current system in place where a child has to wait for an assessment of needs before being given therapies and support is provided.
He said in some cases where it is obvious a child requires intervention, it could be provided straight away and the system itself needs to be improved.