Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)

I wish to address the remarks of the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, about how he has got this "to where it is today". I will clarify where it is today. We have a scheme right now that has 74 houses that are completed. Another 70 have received outer-leaf remediation work only and still retain the blockwork. This amounts to approximately 140 houses, half of which will have to be redone at great expense to the Exchequer. The Minister of State failed to mention that 300 houses that are on the scheme are commencements. You cannot live in a commencement; you live in a completion. That is what has happened with this Government in the past. We cannot be fooled. Commencement is when you go to build. It could take years to build. Completion is what you live in. The Minister of State’s statement is misleading.

I genuinely believe that if Deputy Gallagher had been in the Government when this was coming to pass, and if Micheál Martin had any loyalty and recognised talent and loyalty to people who have served him, he probably would have prevented this from becoming the mess it is now.

The Government has proposed an amendment that will delete every single word of our motion. Given that those words were shaped by those who have experienced this issue, the Government is not just striking out sentences on a page; it is striking out people’s truth. It is telling us and the country that what we have seen with our own eyes and endured somehow does not count. The Minister, Deputy Browne, came into the Chamber for a very brief time today and he has not had the respect to return. That is another let-down for the people of Donegal. That is no slight on the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, who is present in his place. The Minister, Deputy Browne, said he would take those voices on board, but he has not. This amendment wipes out all traces of their voices. It wipes them out. This is deeply personal. It tells those families that their reality is inconvenient and that their pain can be edited out of the record. What we face this morning is not an amendment; it is an erasure of all we have said. It is a dereliction of duty. It is not telling the truth. It is wiping away the stories in order to fit the Government’s narrative. What this amendment really amounts to is cruelty. It is dressed-up grievance. It sounds like power turning its back on its citizens. That is what the Government is doing.

The Government says it is a 100% scheme. The Government is telling that to the very people who cannot afford to let their children go to university because they have chosen the immediate future of a safe house over their child’s future. That is what we are facing every single day. The Government is telling us it is acceptable that families are trapped in homes where their children’s drawings are covered at the back with the black mould they breathe in daily. The Government is telling us it is acceptable that pensioners cannot sleep because they are afraid of the gable wall falling on top of them.

The science has moved on and the cracks have deepened, but the Government pretends that nothing has changed. It continues to fund partial repairs under a standard that is unfit and currently under review. This is not leadership; it is denial. It is a denial that will keep people in limbo and worsen the trauma. Every €1 spent on a flawed fix is €1 wasted to the Exchequer. The homeowners of Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Limerick have carried themselves with a grace that this State has not earned. They have organised, researched, pleaded and waited, but they are still being failed.

I thank every Member of the Opposition, including every party and Independent, who came together for this motion. They did not do this for political gain and I will be truly grateful to them. They have proved that compassion and courage can still cross party lines. The people of Donegal will never forget them for that. The Government may have the numbers to pass its amendment, but it does not have the moral authority. When each Government TD votes tonight, they will not just be deleting a motion; they will be deleting the last thread of trust that many families still have in the State. History will remember this night and I will remember it when I am faced with evidence that the Government chose to look away. When given the testimony of those affected, the Government has silenced them. When asked for hope, it has offered nothing but spin.

I assure the homeowners that their voice is heard in this House, even if the Government tries to tear it down. Their truth will outlast this vote. The cracks in their homes may run deep, but the cracks in this Government’s credibility run even deeper still. The Government can delete the words on this page, but it cannot delete the truth. The Government can vote down motions, but it cannot vote away responsibility. The people will remember and we will demand better. One day, we will get it.

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