DONEGAL Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has slammed the ongoing refusal of the government to update the costings that underpin the Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) published their last Report on Construction Costs for the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme back in March, 2024, and building costs have skyrocketed in Donegal since then.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn said:“I have asked the Minister for Housing, James Browne, when he will request that the SCSI publish an updated report, and he has repeatedly refused to do so.
“The government insists that the Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme is 100 per cent based on the SCSI costings but how can that be when the last report was almost two years ago, based on data that is well over two years old?
“Building costs have continued to skyrocket in Donegal since then and the gap between what the government is providing to homeowners with defective block homes and what they will have to pay builders to rebuild or remediate their homes grows wider all the time.”
Deputy Mac Lochlainn said this represents a wilful refusal by the minister, made worse by comments from some government representatives in Donegal who insist that affected homeowners have a “good scheme” offering 100 per cent redress.
“This is patent nonsense,” he continued.
“The gap is widening, and most families will struggle to avail of the scheme.
“Sinn Féin have called for a genuine 100 per cent redress scheme based on the Pyrite Remediation Scheme that almost 3,000 families in Dublin and north Leinster have availed of.
“And a scheme that is delivered directly by the State from start to finish.
“Why are our families in Donegal and the west of Ireland second class citizens in the eyes of this government?”
