Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion, which I support. I am disappointed that like the Labour Party motion last week, there is no mention of the defective concrete crisis in this motion. This is a crisis that impacts tens of thousands of people in County Donegal and 16 other counties. It is a crisis that every single party needs to address. Every day we discover more problems with the Government's defective concrete blocks scheme. We discovered this week that homeowners are being unfairly penalised by delays due to a lack of contractors and Donegal County Council. In many cases contractors are forced to take on other jobs due to cash flow issues because of the council's processing delays. Builders are understandably abandoning these sites due to unpredictable payments and families are being left in a difficult situation. These delays are completely out of control. Homeowners yet again are the ones expected to carry the financial burden. It is clear that application progress is completely inefficient and chronically slow. Excessive paperwork, portal outages, slow claim approvals, repeat submissions and an overwhelming amount of further information requests are slowing down this progress. The portal system lacks basic reminders for key deadlines, leaving homeowners vulnerable to missing extensions. We know now that the 65-week timescale is unrealistic for people on this scheme to complete their builds. We have seen how the Government's own construction projects, particularly the hospital, are taking a very long time.

We have thousands of homes in Donegal under construction, and a severe lack of contractors. Of course there will be delays. Instead of the council unnecessarily contributing to these delays it should be addressing the minor discrepancies and the final claim rather than delaying the whole process mid claim. I ask the Government to work with Donegal County Council to provide an extended timeline and ensure a swift process turnaround. We must do all we can to ensure that these people, who are traumatised and are victims, are not subject to more unnecessary hardship. I ask the Minister to show a bit of compassion for these impacted families.

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