Dream of Laois home turning into nightmare for couple

A Laois man who is unable to move into his first home slammed the lack of forward planning in Ireland.

Portlaoise native Andrew Dollard and his Kerry born wife Julie are among 80 families who have been unable to move into their new homes at the Sand Wood development in Summerhill, Portlaoise, because it hasn’t been connected by the ESB.

Mr Dollard has handed over a €48,000 deposit, is paying rent on a two bedroom apartment in Portlaoise and has also had to fork out to store his new furniture which was purchased for the home he was supposed to move into in February or March. 

“It is absolutely horrific. It is just a pure and utter sh*t show and nobody wants to hold their hands up,” he told the Leinster Express/Laois Live. 

Mr Dollard revealed that he had considered emigrating with his family prior to finding his dream home. “We were contemplating emigrating because of the price of this country,” he said.    

He has a good job with a semi State company and his wife also has a very good job. Despite their incomes, he said it took ten months to get approval for a mortgage from the banks. 

Although they got mortgage approval in principle, they also had to hand over €48,000, or 10% of the price of the house from their own savings to the developer as a deposit. 

“Our mortgage now lapses next week,” Mr Dollard revealed. He expects to have to go through the “rigmarole” of the mortgage application process all over again. 

In the meantime, Mr Dollard and his wife Julie are continuing to pay rent for a two bedroom apartment in Portlaoise where they live with their two young children. “We are paying somebody else’s mortgage,” he pointed out.

“We have to now go apply for a mortgage again, pay rent for months,”  said Mr Dollard. 

“The house is built. I have been in it. The only thing that is missing is electricity,” he said. 

He said the developer had applied for an electrical connection in March of 2024.  “There is absolutely no forward planning in my opinion on what’s going on,” he said. 

“Portlaoise is the fastest growing town in the country, why should it come as a shock?” he asked. 

Mr Dollard noted the government had spent billions on the children’s hospital which has yet to open but politicians will still get their regular pay rises. He is aware of some families who bought in Sand Wood who aren’t able to enroll their children in schools because of the uncertainty in moving in. 

“This is our first home. It was exciting at the start but the fun is gone now,” he remarked. 

READ ALSO: Oireachtas hears 80 families unable to move into new homes as they have no ESB

“Absolutely nobody is accountable for this. I am in a job. If I make a mistake I am responsible,” he said.  

When asked if he was told what was happening? “Not a single thing. We have been kept in the dark. We have had no communication from anybody whatsoever,” he said. He understands it might now be December when he gets in. 

Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack raised the issue at an Oireachtas Housing Committee and demanded the Housing Minister take action. She called for immediate cross-agency intervention between the ESB, the Department of Housing, and the developer to ensure the connection is completed without further delay.

“The developer, Holybrook, submitted the connection application to ESB in March 2024. However, the ESB has cited capacity issues at the local substation in Portlaoise as the reason for the ongoing delay. Senator McCormack also raised concerns that ESB’s planning and capacity estimates were based on outdated figures from the Department of Housing, failing to reflect the reality of Laois’s growing population and housing needs.

Portlaoise is a rapidly growing town. We are taking the overspill from the cities as a commuter belt county, but we are not being prioritised when it comes to critical infrastructure like power and water.  This is the direct result of years of poor planning and a lack of investment in key services in smaller counties like Laois,” she said. 

Pictured above: Mr Dollard and his wife inspecting their new home before learning it could now remain idle until December

Acknowledging the urgency of the situation in Sand Wood, ESB Networks said they are actively working with the developer to coordinate the installation of the electricity infrastructure needed to connect the homes in the Sand Wood estate.

“This has been a complex project, involving two separate connection applications in a power-constrained area, each requiring careful design and assessment. Following some necessary updates to the application, we received confirmation and payment from the developer within the past four weeks. With this in place, we are now progressing preparations to move forward with the infrastructure installation.  

The developer is well advanced in preparing the site for our work, and we are currently awaiting final confirmation of their deliverables to proceed.

In the meantime, our teams are in close contact locally to ensure we are ready to begin installation as soon as we receive confirmation from the developer.”

Portlaoise Independent Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said, “ESB connections are a problem all over the county.” She welcomed the fact that housing is being built but was concerned about how prepared the county is in terms of electrical grid capacity and water supply.

“They are the two main issues, Irish Water and ESB,” Cllr Dwane Stanely said.