Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

I speak today on behalf of the constituents of Dublin Fingal West, dealing with the stress caused by their houses literally crumbling around them. Families did everything right. They saved, they waited for their homes to be built, took pride in their home and now they live in fear, with cracks going up the walls, through the floors and the ceilings yet the response from the Department is painfully slow.

Its slowness to admit people to the scheme is beyond belief. Why the dragging out of the process, the endless waiting and stress levels going through the roof? The Government does not want to pay out to help them. That is what it looks like from the outside and what it feels like to those affected. The owners cannot sell their houses, they cannot afford to fix them yet they are still forced to pay property tax on homes that may be worth nothing. Is that fair? Let us call it what it is: these people are not responsible for the debacle that has been laid at their doorstep. They did not choose defective blocks, they did not cause this crisis but they are the ones paying the price financially, emotionally and mentally.

The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 came into effect in June 2023. The enhanced grant scheme is open to five counties - Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo - but there are other areas where there is clear evidence of this and people are still waiting. I understand Fingal County Council, in line with section 57 of the Act, submitted a request to the Housing Agency back on 21 September 2023 for inclusion in the scheme. The agency then appointed a chartered engineer from its own panel to carry out investigations and consultations, including concrete block sampling and testing, which began in December 2023. Those tests confirmed what homeowners had been saying all along, which was that the properties in the affected areas are showing clear signs of damage caused by defective concrete blocks.

The Housing Agency completed its investigations and submitted its report to the Department. The Minister has since received the report and the recommendations will be considered in the near future. People have been waiting long enough. The review may be complete but families are still living in unsafe homes without certainty and without support. What they need is not another report sitting on a desk, they need action and they need it urgently. I have been addressing this through parliamentary questions since January of this year, and as far back as 2023 when I was a councillor, for three estates in particular in Rush, Lusk and Skerries. These families need answers now, they need a decision to be made and they need hope and solutions. I ask the Minister to take a fresh look at how this scheme is being run, cut the red tape, stop hiding behind procedures and show compassion. I ask him to stop putting the burden back on these homeowners who are already stressed by their homes falling apart. Every day he delays, another family wakes up in a home they cannot trust will not fall apart around them. It is simply not good enough for the constituents of Dublin Fingal West.

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