‘Sinn Féin’s Housing Plan gives hope to Donegal families in defective block home’

Donegal Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has stated that his party’s housing plan, ‘A Home Of Your Own’ will give hope to thousands of Donegal families.

The plan, he says, is for those living in defective concrete block homes, so they can finally receive genuine 100% redress from the State to help them rebuild their lives and their homes.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn said: “The government’s latest Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme is again failing thousands of families in Donegal, living in defective block homes. It is leaving behind most families and forcing others to pay out tens of thousands of euros.

“Sinn Féin are giving a clear commitment in our Housing Plan, ‘A Home Of Your Own’, that if we are in government, we will deliver a genuine 100% Redress Scheme, delivered by the State, from start to finish, rather than a grant scheme

“Sinn Féin believes that the most effective way to address the legacy of Celtic Tiger era building defects and that of defective concrete blocks and foundations is through the creation of a single Building Defects Resolution Board. This can best be achieved by transforming the current Pyrite Resolution Board to deal with all of the defect issues.”

The new Building Defects Resolution Board would involve a merger of the existing Pyrite Board and the Housing Agency staff currently working on the defective concrete block grant scheme.

The Board would provide three distinct end-to-end remediation schemes, one for pyrite in Leinster, one for defective concrete across the state and one for Celtic Tiger era fire safety and building defects in multi-unit developments of apartments, duplexes and houses.

“All of the remediation schemes would work on the same basis providing those impacted by defects with equality of treatment. This would involve adhering to the principle of 100% redress; providing an end-to-end scheme managed by the agency in consultation with the owner, with a self-build opt-out where appropriate at the same cost to the state; prioritising principal private residences, social housing and private rental homes and procuring professional services and building contractors to achieve economies of scale and properly manage costs.

It will also require the speedy conclusion of the review of Industry Standard 465:2018 to ensure that the scheme can include foundations and all deleterious materials as guided by the science,” Deputy Mac Lochlainn added.

“There is also a clear commitment in our plan to quantify the number of properties excluded by government schemes to date, including some rental properties, holiday homes, community facilities, commercial and agricultural premises and to then explore redress options for the owners.”