Defective Concrete Blocks Social Homes Scheme 2026: Motion Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23 ============================================================ Cathal Crowe (FF), Clare Many homeowners in County Clare who are affected by defective concrete blocks are looking at us to deliver fairness, clarity and a scheme that fully works for them. While I absolutely welcome the progress made with the new IS 465 standard, which finally allows for the scientific testing of foundations - that was a crucial step - the reality is that testing alone cannot fix a home. Families are currently left in a difficult limbo where science acknowledges that the foundations of their homes are compromised, but the funding legislation has not yet caught up. As the statutory review progresses, we must ensure foundation remediation is fully funded so people are not asked to rebuild on unsafe ground. I wish to bring to the Minister's attention a frustrating bureaucratic anomaly that is causing genuine distress for families trying to navigate all this process. One arm of the State requires homeowners to provide a full, detailed valuation of their property for the purpose of calculating local property tax; yet when it comes to the remediation scheme, the parameters are not always factored in for the whole house or the true, comprehensive cost of returning a family to a complete home. We need a joined up approach. If the State looks at the whole value of the house for calculating tax, the remediation scheme should protect the integrity of the whole house as well. We must look at ultimate financial accountability. In many Dáil debates in the past, it was said the State would take a landmark legal action against the people who manufactured and sold these concrete blocks. We would like to know where that is because this scheme is funded by the taxpayers of Ireland and, ultimately, we need to be going after and penalising those who sold defective blocks. I am aware of the Minister's commitment to resolving this crisis. He has been forthright about that, which is appreciated. I urge him to use the current review to iron out the anomalies I outlined, including in respect of foundations, and to deliver the comprehensive solution the people in my county, Clare, deserve. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-23