Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (Designation of Fingal and Wexford County Councils) (Parts of Administrative Areas) Order 2026: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Sarah O'Reilly (AON), Agricultural Panel

I welcome the proposal to extend the scheme to Fingal and Wexford, but we have to be honest with the people who will be availing of it. It is still not working and I do not believe it will be of much help to the families in the affected areas. We are dealing with a crisis that affects up to 25,000 homes across the State, with entire communities living in houses that are cracking, crumbling and in some cases unsafe to live in. I have been to Donegal and seen homes affected by defective concrete, where families are worried anytime there is a strong wind or a storm. If you talk to my colleague Mary T. Sweeney from Donegal, she will tell you that the system has failed homeowners there.
Ireland relied on out-of-date EU standards, and manufacturers were allowed to self-certify. Our local authorities had neither the power nor the resources to carry out independent inspections, and that continues. Local authorities need to be properly and fully resourced. Since 2022, only 69 homes have been fully remediated under the scheme. We cannot say a scheme is properly working when only 69 homes out of 20,000 have been completed. Families are exhausted and traumatised, and there is intergenerational trauma now. One study found that 30% of respondents have severe depression as a result of the defective block crisis. Full demolition and reconstruction are the only viable solution, which means 100% redress. Anything less is just a sticking plaster. The State can deliver an end-to-end scheme, not a grant scheme, that actually rebuilds homes. Resources, resources, resources.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28