Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Robbie Gallagher (FF), Labour Panel

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. At the outset, I commend all political voices in Donegal who have been working to try to find resolutions to this issue. One councillor, above all others, stands out in my mind: Councillor Marty McDermott, who has been working tirelessly on this issue for a long number of years. He has been recognised as a very fair and reasonable voice in relation to this.
I am from Donegal and am fully aware of the tragedy and stress that has been bestowed upon the families affected by this crisis. They are going a through a living nightmare at the moment. That is what it is. It has affected people's physical and mental health. It has even affected relationships within homes. They are totally innocent in all of this.
The State has been handed this massive issue to try to find a resolution to. To be fair, it is trying to build a mechanism from the ground up. It is fair to say that there will be learnings along the way. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has visited Donegal and seen at first hand the trauma I am referring to. I welcome the fact that he has brought in amendments that go some way to making life easier - if it is possible to do so - for those affected families. A great bit of work has been done in relation to this issue, and more needs to be done. I anticipate that we will be back in here again with more amendments to this legislation because we are learning a lot as we go along. It is important that, as a State, we take those learnings to arrive at a point as quickly as we possibly can to try to put those families in secure homes.
As I said, I welcome the set of amendments brought forward and the progress made. Progress has been made; it would be unfair to say it has not. It is also fair and reasonable to say that more needs to be done. We need to move faster. I would like to focus on the issues related to the upfront costs. Many families cannot get into the scheme because they simply do not have money to start off. Those people are left on the sideline and that is not fair. We need to come up with a mechanism in order to make that happen.
Elderly people also a need a hand. The trauma and form filling associated with all of this is traumatic for any young person, never mind an elderly person. We have to be conscious of that as well. It is important that the revised IS 465 is published as soon possible. The State is giving a 40-year guarantee. We need to make sure that what we are doing stands the test of time and that the taxpayer does not have to pick up the tab for work the State does thereafter.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:27+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11