Defective Concrete Blocks Social Homes Scheme 2026: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Joanne Collins (SF), Agricultural Panel

I welcome the Minister of State. We in Sinn Féin are not opposing this motion. However, we think it has been approached in the wrong way, and I will give the House the reasons.
Social housing tenants have been waiting a long time for a scheme like this. The problem is that it just does not seem like the Government will 100% fund this, and when I say 100% I mean the demolition, the staffing, the construction disposal and temporary accommodation for the tenants when this is going on. The councils, if this is the case, will not be able to proceed with the works that are necessary and what needs to happen. Looking at the private scheme that is going on at the moment, homeowners have a shortfall of sometimes €50,000 or €100,000. If the same thing is going to happen with the council houses, there will be councils that will be hundreds of millions short of what they need to do. I am just conscious that we need to make sure that if this is going ahead, it is 100% redress, to include all of what is needed for council houses to be refurbished. I had a family from County Limerick come up to me at the ploughing and they said that they had their house assessed in 2024. They were told there was pyrite in the house. They are still waiting. It is nearly the end of 2026 now. That is two years they are still waiting. The shocking thing I heard was that the walls were tested but the foundation was not.
Everybody says that the best thing for anything, in education or whatever you do in life, is a good foundation. A good foundation in a house is important. If we are not testing the foundation and we are just going to put whatever fix on the walls - knock the walls and rebuild them or whatever it is that is planned - we are going to end up with a redress scheme for the redress scheme because it is just going to happen again. If there is an issue with the foundation, the foundation needs to be tested and sorted and the house needs to be knocked or whatever has to happen. I am not a builder, so I do not know the ins and outs of what happens down to the nitty-gritty, but I do know that the foundation of anything is important. Will the Minister of State go back to the Department and please look at that flaw that seems to be in the scheme, but also at the shortfall? None of these schemes is going to work unless it is 100% redress. The schemes are just not. Families cannot afford a shortfall of €50,000 or €100,000 and councils definitely cannot. I would like to see the funding going into councils to be able to provide this because the Minister of State mentioned a couple of counties but there could be others where he problem has just not shown up yet. This could end up being in all 32 counties. A review has been initiated but it needs to make real change. The results need to show real change happening and 100% redress. I will leave it at that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-30