Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-16
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Sarah O'Reilly (AON), Agricultural Panel

I know we are on amendment No. 16, but amendments Nos. 13 and 15 were ruled out of order and I want to mention them and why they were so important. Ruling them out of order sends a very clear message to families that it does not matter if their home is crumbling around them because it is the timing that determines whether they are recognised.
We have been repeatedly told that there has been significant progress under the enhanced defective concrete block scheme, but when you look at the facts, that claim falls apart. While 229 homes are listed as completed, only 121 received the correct science-based solution, namely, full demolition and rebuild required. Nearly half of those homes, 108 in total, were given partial or mixed repairs. These fixes are now widely accepted to be inadequate and may need to be redone in the future. Families accepted them because they had no other option. Since the scheme began in July 2023, just 229 homes have been remediated in Donegal. If even a conservative estimate of 20,000 homes ultimately need to be rebuilt, at this pace it would take more than 200 years. This is a crisis that is being handed down from one generation to the next.
The amendments that have been ruled out of order also matter because early movers have been left behind. The 8.7% grant increase, based on March 2024 construction costs, was already out of date when it became law. The previous housing Minister promised people would not be left behind, yet 43 homeowners now find themselves excluded and abandoned. It is incredibly disappointing that these amendments were ruled out of order and the Government is unwilling to recognise the suffering and hardship people endure unless it happened after 29 March 2024. I will reiterate the point I made on Thursday, that there needs to be an investigation and a public inquiry into what has happened with defective concrete blocks.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-16