Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I commend Deputy Charles Ward, who brought a Private Members' motion before the Dáil today, the 100% Redress councillors and my Aontú colleague Ms Mary T. Sweeney on their tireless work on the defective concrete blocks issue. This crisis is a slow-motion earthquake. We see homes slowly crumbling across Donegal and far beyond, and I have no doubt it will stretch more over the country in the next few years. If this disaster were happening anywhere else, the Government would have declared a national emergency. Instead, Irish families have been abandoned in their own country.

The Government still clings to the so-called mica freeze-thaw theory. The truth now confirmed by experts is that sulphite-bearing aggregates are the real cause, yet regulations still have not changed. Quarries remain self-regulated, meaning defective materials can still be produced today. Homeowners are being charged €600 to €1,000 for building condition assessments and they simply cannot afford this in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

I have seen homes where every wall is covered in mould, children suffer constant respiratory infections and families are trapped in unsafe conditions with nowhere to go. During Storm Amy, Donegal had a status red wind warning in place. Imagine trying to take shelter in a house that is held up by blocks that you could put your fist through. With every storm, these houses weaken. What happens to families when their homes totally collapse? There is no plan for rehousing and no emergency accommodation. Families in north Leinster received full redress under the pyrite scheme. The families in Donegal deserve nothing less. This is a humanitarian disaster and needs to be declared as a national emergency. The damage threshold must be scrapped. The only real solution is a State-led demolition and rebuild programme, strict independent regulation of quarries and emergency accommodation for people affected.

I agree with Senator Linda Nelson Murray: we need to get on with the work of these Houses. We have been distracted and there have been a lot of deflections over the past few months to things that do not affect our own people. We need to fight for the people in our own country who are struggling. I look forward to seeing statements in the future for the people of Donegal on the defective blocks situation.