Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is bewildering the amount of hype and positivity there is on the Government benches at the local election results which have delivered to the Government net seat losses overall. The Government is entitled to celebrate, and I say, "Fair play to you". Political squabbling will go on between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and them and Sinn Féin and so on, but, in Donegal, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have returned with only two thirds of the seats they won in 2019, with many of their sitting councillors scraping in on last counts. The 100% Redress Party topped the poll in the Carndonagh electoral area, which is the back yard of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and took four council seats in total. It is now a larger party than Fine Gael on the council and there is a clear message for Government here from the people of Donegal in respect of the defective block redress crisis.

Redress is not working for the thousands of people who are living in crumbling homes across the constituency. They see no end to the saga. They see no future for their families and children and they see no way out of the distress that is ruining their lives. They are a strong and stoic people but they are at the end of their tether. They have repeatedly told the Government why the scheme will not work for them. Now they have used the electoral system to deliver their message. They have elected Ali Farren in Carndonagh, Joy Beard in Buncrana, Tomás Divine in Letterkenny and Denis McGee in Gweedore to reinforce their message.

I have raised this issue more than 50 times on the floor of the House during the term of this current Dáil and each and every time, I and other Opposition TDs from the county get the same old rhetoric from the Taoiseach and the Government. They quote figures. They tell me it is the biggest scheme ever of its kind. They look at me dismissively, as if to say, "That is sorted. Why are you bringing it up here again?", but they do not really listen. They have not listened as we give voice to the real concerns the families have living with defective blocks, but now the Taoiseach has a chance to do so.

The stark reality is plain to see. The scheme is not working. It does not reflect the science that has emerged - science that was driven by the defective block campaign itself, not by Departments or the political system. The scheme is failing the families across Donegal whose lives are devastated by the defective blocks. The defective blocks crisis also affects community buildings, public buildings and everything built in the past 20 years in the county, reflecting a failed self-certification system brought in by Governments of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The Taoiseach has a chance to fix this. My advice is that he should take it. He should make a scheme that, once and for all, reflects and works to address the needs of all families in Donegal and, indeed, those across the country as the scheme widens. Will the Taoiseach, once and for all, address the failures of the defective block redress scheme and make a scheme that is fit for purpose?

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