Derry holiday homes in defective blocks scheme

Derry people with holiday homes in Inishowen affected by defective concrete blocks will be included in the post general election redress scheme envisaged by Sinn Féin.

Holiday homeowners were excluded from both of the redress schemes established by the Irish Government to address the homes crumbling as a result of the use of defective concrete blocks and products in their construction - the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (2020) and its replacement the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (2023).

The two schemes have been described as "not fit for purpose" by Donegal redress activists who are continuing to campaign for a new and improved redress scheme. Donegal homeowners are currently being forced to pay thousands of euro towards the cost of remediating their homes, making it in accessible to many.

'Natural justice says all homeowners would need to have redress, in due course' - Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD

Speaking to Derry News, Donegal TD, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said “natural justice says all homeowners would need to have redress, in due course”.

Mr Mac Lochlainn’s comments followed the passing of a motion on the issue at Sinn Féin’s recent Ard Fheis in Athlone. 

Tabled by Donegal Sinn Féin it stated: “This Ard Fheis reiterates our commitment to 100% redress for all of the victims of the defective concrete products and defective apartments, duplexes and houses scandals and affirms our belief that the Enhanced Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme is another scheme that will deny redress to most affected homeowners. 

“Further this Ard Fheis commits Sinn Féin to implementing 100% redress and remediation schemes, delivered by a reconstituted and strengthened Pyrite Resolution Board and the Housing Agency, rather than these failed grant schemes, if in government.”

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Mr Mac Lochlainn added: “The reality is all victims are going to need redress. 

“Sinn Féin has always said we first need to prioritise the primary homeowners and tenants in rented properties, be they public or private.

“Basically, wherever there is a danger to a family living in a house, that is our first priority. That is how Sinn Féin would approach the issue. Then what we need to do is work our way out from there. 

Our Sinn Féin colleagues in the North have raised the issue with us, although in fairness, it is a cross-party issue, I know the SDLP has raised it also. We are currently working with the Sinn Féin MPs and MLAs in the North to get to a point where there is redress for everybody,” said Mr Mac Lochlainn.

Giving an example of why the new scheme would have to apply to Derry holiday home owners, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said: “You could have a situation where someone lives in a house, it is their home, their primary residence, but it is semi-detached and the semi detached property next door could be a holiday home.

“In that case, there would be a practical need to go beyond the scheme which is there at present. 

“I can tell you, this issue of semi-detached houses is going to be  massive. Already we have seen houses being demolished where a block has been half knocked down. It does not make economic sense to knock half a block down.

"For all sorts of reasons, justice being number one, and fairness, holiday homes need to be included in any new redress scheme,” said Pádraig Mac Lochlainn. 

Mr Mac Lochlainn said when Sinn Féin talked about 100% Redress, the priority would be primary homeowners and tenants, but it would have to move out to include holiday homes, commercial properties, public buildings like schools, community centres, farming buildings.

He added: “There is a whole range of issues we are going to have to grapple with based on our own view of 100% redress and what we believe it should be.

“Right now, as we speak, IS465 [the official testing protocol] is being reviewed. That review, in our opinion, is taking far too long. However, I would be quite confident, when it concludes, hopefully as soon as possible, the current standard is going to have to be changed.

“And it will have to do at least two things. It will have to test foundations as well as blocks. It will also have to test for much more than mica or pyrite. It needs to test for pyrrhotite, which means the iron sulphides Professor Paul Dunlop and his colleagues have exposed as the reason for the deterioration in concrete blocks and products. I am very confident they will be vindicated. 

“The scheme Sinn Féin envisages would be a scheme based on a new standard, an amended standard and one where the foundations do need to be tested. Hopefully we will get a proper process soon, one which people can trust, so, whatever the science dictates needs to be done, will be done,” said Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

The Donegal TD said he was “very confident” IS465 would be changed.

“At the minute, nobody really trusts 1S465, unfortunately. Hopefully, when we get it changed, we will implement whatever the science tells us. It has to be based on science and safety,” he added. 

“What Sinn Féin is saying is take the example of the Pyrite Resolution Scheme, a remediation scheme for families in Dublin and Leinster. 

“That scheme is 100% redress. It  actually is a redress scheme and it is implemented by the Housing Agency. A homeowner does not have to go out and get a price; homeowners don’t have to go out and get contractors. Everything is dealt with by the Housing Association. 

“The Housing Agency takes the keys from you and hands the keys back to you after the process. That is how it is done and has been done for more than 2,000 homes. 

“Sinn Féin is saying, we need to now reconstitute a Defective Homes Resolution Board and use the Housing Agency, similar to what is happening in Dublin and North Leinster. So, rather than a family being told, ‘Here’s what you’re getting. There’s a cap. You are getting X amount. We’re not including the foundations or the windows or whatever’, the Housing Agency rebuilds your house to the same footprint. That is the vision,” said Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

He added that, in Government, Sinn Féin would “implement an actual redress scheme not a grant scheme”.

“We would get rid of the grant scheme and bring in a redress scheme.

“The key thing is we would acknowledge that natural justice says all homeowners would need to have redress in due course.

“The example I gave of semi-detached properties, where one is a holiday home and one is a principal residence right next to each other, is why the current Government’s policy is unworkable. It doesn’t make sense. In the long run it won’t work.