Defective Concrete Blocks Social Homes Scheme 2026: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30 ============================================================ Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel The Minister of State is very welcome. I welcome Deputy Charlie Ward. He has informed me. I would be asking the stupidest questions about all levels of what is going on in Donegal. I also welcome Councillors Joy Beard, Ali Farren, Tomás Seán Devine and Denis McGee. I am someone who is new to politics and Deputy Ward gave me an awful lot of time explaining things in a very humble and generous way. That can be seen right throughout these Houses in a very considerate and respectful way. He was very willing to work with anyone who was willing to listen, and it paid off. Well done to Deputy Ward and to all the councillors. I thank the Minister of State for listening to what they were saying. I went to Deputy Ward's house. A lot of people would not invite you into their house to show you the situation people are living in. I thank him and say, "Well done". We welcome this scheme. It has been a long time coming. Local authorities like Donegal County Council have spent scarce resources on this. As has been pointed out, the concrete does not care who owns the home, be it a social home or a private home. I do not want to be negative about it. What I am saying is informed by the councillors and by Deputy Ward himself and relates to the possible defects in the scheme that should be addressed now rather than later. That includes testing the foundations. That must be included in this scheme. It makes no sense to rebuild a property on potentially compromised foundations and leave the State to carry possible future risk. Under IS 465:2026, where a dwelling is found to have internal sulphate attack, the appropriate remedy is demolition and rebuild. This scheme must fully reflect the scientific standard. That has been pointed out many times. The review of the standard - IS 465:2026 - has gone to the Minister, Deputy Browne, who must ensure that it is incorporated into the existing private scheme and the social housing scheme. Temporary accommodation has already come up in the debate. In Donegal, there are 3,150 households awaiting social housing. A conservative estimate is that 2,400 social homes have been impacted by defective concrete. A proper temporary accommodation plan must be in place before large-scale works begin. The Minister of State knows that. We all know we are in the middle of a housing crisis, so people are competing to try to get a house on top of all that. If a temporary accommodation scheme is introduced, it is important that the local authorities and approved housing bodies keep families in their own communities to protect schools and community involvement and support carers. Tenants need to be given a guarantee that once the remediation work has been done, they can return to their homes. Consideration should possibly be given to the use of modular homes. There are a lot of modular homes in Donegal for the Ukrainian people who arrived under temporary protection. That could be a consideration if they are no longer in use because people have returned home. It is about funding local authorities and making sure that they have enough resources within them. Local authorities are underfunded as it is. They were forced to act because there was not a dedicated scheme. We must make sure that the money going in is sufficient to meet all of the costs and is ring-fenced, including for personnel. Funding must be multi-annual. Where homes must be demolished and rebuilt, they should be built to modern building and energy efficiency standards. The scheme is going to place enormous responsibility on Donegal County Council, Sligo County Council, and councils in Mayo, Clare, and all the other counties that have been affected. It is the Minister of State's Department and he knows that they have to be fully resourced with proper oversight. A formal implementation group could be set up involving tenants, approved housing bodies, engineers and elected members from councils. The Department cannot correct its own homework. We must ensure that there will be proper oversight and accountability. Good practice and good governance require accountability. It is great that the State has responded. The State is the only one that can respond to this. Now that there is a dedicated scheme, the rate needs to be upped. The Department can ensure that the local authorities are resourced. --- 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/seanad/2026-09-30/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-30