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

I thank my colleague, Deputy Seamus Healy, for bringing forward this important motion on housing emergency measures in the public interest. I acknowledge the inclusion in this motion of the defective concrete crisis, which many Opposition parties have disappointingly failed to include in their previous housing motions.

Support from all parties and independent TDs across every constituency is required in respect of the defective concrete block crisis. At least 16 counties have been impacted so far, but it is very likely that more will discover that defective concrete blocks were used in the construction of buildings. Families across the country have for years been living in homes that are literally falling apart. Homes built on foot of trust, hard work and sacrifice have turned into prisons of anxiety and despair. It is time we come together to tackle this humanitarian crisis and make sure that nothing like this ever happens again. To do so, the Government must listen to those who have been impacted, namely, the people who have experienced this crisis at first hand. They truly understand and know how to tackle it. Their voices have been ignored and their solutions rejected for far too long.

Impacted homeowners tell us that the existing scheme has been a complete failure. Families are being forced to rebuild on top of Weetabix blocks. Engineers with decades of expertise have warned of the failures but have been ignored. We have been told too many times that the scheme is evolving. If that were the case, there would be no need to keep going the way we are going. We have had two different versions of the scheme, both of which have failed. Once again, the Government does not listen. It has ignored more than 80 amendments from homeowners that would have transformed the scheme. It has rejected pre-legislative scrutiny on legislation designed to speed up the scheme and then left said legislation for nearly 18 months before implementing it.

We are stuck with a scheme that does not work. We warned the Government three years ago that this would be the case. There are many examples of how the scheme is unworkable. Take the example of two semi-detached houses located adjacent to each other. One family gets to have their house remediated because it has the funds to do so. They go into debt. The other family does not have the money and are left in the house as it crumbles. The first family rebuilds their house. The houses are put back together but the foundations underneath are contaminated. It is ridiculous. The exclusion of foundations from remediation is unforgivable. Naming the scheme the defective concrete blocks scheme is purposely insulting to impacted homeowners, many of whose houses and foundations are crumbling underneath their feet.

The Government has chosen to ignore this critical structural element when it comes to defective homes. This is leaving families at serious risk. Their mental health goes down the drain. Homeowners are forever trapped in uncertainty. They are not able to sell their homes because there are still defective materials inside after they have been remediated, not rebuilt. This has been going on for years. The scheme must be reviewed as soon as possible. Delays have consequences, and to continue to ignore the affected families will have consequences.

I agree with this motion in the context of the call to Government to carry out a massive construction programme of social and affordable housing on public land. The lack of real social and affordable housing in Donegal, coupled with the crisis relating to defective concrete, means that many families in the county have nowhere to go. There is a complete lack of alternative accommodation for families who are rebuilding their homes because there is nowhere for them to go. There are no houses available to rent. Families are left to live in dangerous houses and face severe hardship while dealing with this crisis. There is no end in sight for them. It was a slap in the face to impacted homeowners in Donegal and across the country to hear the Minister say last week that if the housing crisis was solved in Dublin, it would be solved for the whole country.

There is now a defective concrete crisis in 28 counties, all of which I have visited. If we do not tackle this and get proper procedures in place with 100% redress, we will not be able to solve this crisis and it will get worse, as we told the Government three years ago. We warned that this would happen. We were not listened to. Now we have the IS 465 register dropping. The Minister has met families who own defective apartments. I ask him to meet the people of Donegal who are affected and give them the answers they need.

See this speech in context