The human cost of this whole crisis is absolutely incredible. I visited Donegal many times with my good friend Mary T. Sweeney in relation to this particular crisis. I visited many families in many homes who have shown me chimney stacks falling down and massive gaps in the walls of their houses. We have the incredible situation of children sleeping in rooms on windy, stormy nights in fear that the building is going to collapse. I have no doubt this is leading to significant problems physically, but the mental and psychological scars arising from the defective concrete crisis are immense. It has had an enormous impact on the people of Donegal, Mayo, Clare and other counties. The cost of those scars to society is unquantifiable. I have no doubt that many of those scars are going to wash through this generation of individuals. I also have no doubt that there is an enormous lack of accountability. There is no doubt in my mind that the system of light-touch regulation we had in this country over many years, which was overseen by Fianna Fáil, in large part allowed this defective concrete to be sold and put into the housing infrastructure of large parts of this country. Indeed, there is still not accountability in terms of the quality of construction products in the market at the moment. This problem is rife, not only in homes but also in much of the other infrastructure in this country. One of the big frustrations is that the people of Donegal in particular have expended so much energy and effort protesting and trying to get the Government to deliver the responsibility it has for this issue. Yet, here we are in 2025 with a scheme that is deeply flawed and is not 100% redress. There is an enormous gap between the money that is necessary to do the work and the money that is being offered by the Government. This scheme is leaving many families with increased mortgages and debts. It is so difficult to operate that it is impossible for many people to use. I have no doubt that if the people of Donegal were swapped for the people of south Dublin or some other constituency on the east coast, the Government would take a far different approach. The Government is speaking from both sides of its mouth on defective concrete and redress. It is trying to pretend this is something it is not. The people at the difficult end of this, those living in homes that are crumbling around them and trying to get them rebuilt, know this is not true. My worry is that other people watching this debate, the people from other counties who are not directly affected, will just nod their heads and think it is all right and the problem is being sorted out because there is money being spent on it. I appeal to the Minister opposite to listen to the TDs from Donegal, Mayo and other counties and to put himself in the place of an individual who has spent their life savings investing in building a home and is now seeing that home destroyed by a building material that was allowed onto the market as a result of the lack of regulation by a particular government and is then left to swing, in large part, for big chunks of the cost of that. I appeal to the Government to do the right thing and make sure it delivers 100% redress.

Sentiment score: -0.33

It is hard to believe that it is 12 years since this crisis started to unfold. It is hard to believe that we still do not know how many homes, flats, offices, shops, farm buildings, etc., are impacted in the likes of Donegal or Mayo. It also is hard to believe there have been four attempts at rewriting this scheme over that period and yet we are still not at a scheme that is fit for purpose. This amendment speaks to the fact that so many people are snookered and have been left without any real options at the moment. In many of the situations people cannot sell or are struggling to get insurance and people are struggling to get mortgages currently because of the defective blocks and because capacity is being swallowed up with so many people being in such difficulties. Driving around Donegal I was struck that every second building, house, council building, crèche, or business was pointed out to me as the buildings with the cracks that are starting to get worse and worse. Because of that, many people are struggling to get accommodation. When there is a capacity problem of accommodation, you have inflation. This means that families are snookered even trying to get alternative accommodation for themselves in this regard. It is really important that the Government would get creative in ensuring first that there is extra capacity in terms of combination options for people and second that there are some efforts to create downward pressure on the cost of that accommodation to people. There is a big inflationary aspect for people who are looking to get works done. Some of that is happening because of the pressure on the limited capacity but some of that is happening due to the way the money is being paid out. Some builders are front-loading the costs so that they get the money at the start of the process and then have to wait long periods of time to get paid out as well. I support this amendment and I ask that the Government supports it as well.

Sentiment score: -0.08

Are you though?

Sentiment score: 0.00

Ba mhaith liom tacú leis an leasú seo. Ba cheart go mbeadh an córas iomlán trédhearcach. I support Deputy Ward’s amendments. From a homeowner’s point of view, in Donegal especially, this process has been a never-ending, complex bureaucratic nightmare. One of the key characteristics that exists with this Government is the glacial pace with which it delivers anything. Even when it decides what to do and sets its mind to do it, it is incredibly slow. From a governance point of view, transparency is very important. You cannot manage if you cannot measure. One of the difficulties in this process is the lack of transparency on delivery. Amendment No. 50 introduces full accountability and transparency into a system that has long been opaque by requiring the Minister to produce an annual report on the operations of sections 23A and 23B. The Oireachtas and the public will be able to have a clear, factual picture of how the defective concrete remediation scheme is functioning. If the Minister is allergic to transparency and to measurability, then there is a difficulty. Why would the Minister fear transparency in relation to fixing what is an arduous process that so many people have been forced to go through?

Sentiment score: -0.11