Defective Concrete Blocks Social Homes Scheme 2026: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30 ============================================================ Niall Blaney (FF), Agricultural Panel I will start by acknowledging the Minister of State's dad, who was in the Gallery. I had the pleasure of serving with him back in the noughties in the Lower House. I am delighted to see him here and looking so well. The Minister of State is very welcome. It is great that we are getting another further step along the road to dealing with the whole defective concrete block issue. Like colleagues, I also welcome Deputy Ward to the Gallery. In fairness, Deputy Ward and I were two who certainly shared our views, whether we liked each other's view or not over the years. We fought very hard in relation to this. It is great now to be getting to some of the stages we are getting. That is not to say that everything is perfect. I want to outline some of the issues I feel still need to be addressed. I would like to say on the floor that today is a very welcome occasion. I am delighted that we are here now at this point where councils can start work in dealing with their own stock. Who is more equipped than the councils to deal with their stock? They know exactly what is involved. With Donegal being the epicentre of this defective block crisis, I have full confidence in Donegal County Council to handle the situation in Donegal. The council is saying that something like around 1,000 of its units are affected by mica. I look forward to it now getting on with the job. However, I would like there to be a stipulation put in that it is not just all about housing schemes. Some people are living in council houses that are more often than not referred to as SI houses or specific instance cottages that were built in different parts of rural Ireland. Those applicants must be given the same affordability to the scheme now and not be left until the very end. Some of these people are elderly and some are not in great health. I want to see all this move in tandem and not have anybody left behind. It was great to see the Minister make the moves before the summer in relation to building side by side. It is great that some families who are dealing with loved ones in very compromised health conditions can now get on with their house and have a new house built alongside the existing house. That was a very welcome move. I want to address in the small time that is left to me a number of issues as I see them. I think if Deputy Ward, who is in the Gallery behind me, had the chance to speak on this, he would do so in the same vein. On houses that have been sent to the board of appeal, can we get assurance from the Department that the regulations within the new IS 465:2026 are applied to the appeals? Some of the houses that were appealed a number of years ago may have been tested under a different regime. For instance, they may not have had their inner walls tested. However, decisions could be made on them based on old testings which would not be accurate and would not be right. I want to ensure that any testing that is done is in compliance with the current regulation and that the proper outcomes are secured. There is also a difficulty in Donegal with the market in that anybody going to sell their house now nearly has to go as far as testing the house to prove it has not got mica, and that is wrong. There was a similar incidence of this in Cardiff quite a number of decades ago. They overcame it by using the engineering expertise whereby an engineer is employed for the visual inspection of the house, and with a visual inspection and the test results, certain ratings are given to houses. At the minute, there are questions over the mortgageability and insurability of these houses. It needs an intervention by the Department of housing to ensure there is a process whereby not everybody has to run through a two-year process to sell a house. It really is impacting the market. I would like the Department to seriously have a look at it and come up with a solution to it. I, too, am aware of the crèche in Ardara which the Senator just raised. Councillor Anthony Molloy has raised it with us at meetings in the past. There are maybe 15 schools in total in Donegal where there are problems at which the Minister for education is looking at the minute with a view to addressing those. That is very welcome. Crèches need to be the same. There are many other commercial buildings, etc., that we still need to address. The Senator raised an issue with Traveller accommodation. If that is the case, that is concerning and needs to be addressed by Donegal County Council. If there is Traveller accommodation that is in difficulty with defective materials, that needs to be included in any council scheme or otherwise. I thank the Minister of State again for this today. It is very welcome. --- 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