By Sean Murphy
A SON of an elderly woman with dementia says people in defective homes have “done nothing wrong”.
The woman, whose 85th birthday was last week, left her home for demolition in Donegal with her 84-year-old husband.
It was built less than 20 years ago but began crumbling in recent years.
Their son is Donegal Cllr Ali Farren, whose own house is also affected by the defective block crisis, and so is his sister’s home.
Defective blocks were used to build Donegal Cllr Ali Farren’s house, his sister’s house, and their parents’ house.
Cllr Farren said: “We have a lot of people with defective houses and I’m one of them and my sister.
“We moved our sister in December from her house and that was emotional.
“But when you’re moving your elderly parents, there’s a lot more goes in to moving parents who are elderly.
“I’m a public person I’m not one bit embarrassed to say my parents have a defective house because my mother and father done nothing wrong.
“They just bought concrete product that was unregulated within the State.”
Cllr Ali Farren, whose own house is also affected by the defective block crisis, and so is his sister’s home.
The elderly Malin Head couple’s crumbling home has to be demolished because it was built with water-absorbing minerals, like pyrite, that causes bricks to crack.
In 2021, the Government announced a redress scheme that is currently capped at €420,000 per home.
Cllr Farren has called for stronger testing measures to prevent more homes in future being built with defective blocks.
The Department of Housing and Local Government said rules for placing construction materials like concrete blocks on the EU market falls under the EU Construction Products Regulations (CPR).
An official explained that manufacturers must assess and declare the product’s performance and apply CE marking to confirm that it conforms to Euro standards.
He added that the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) provides additional guidance, including construction products’ minimum performance levels.
But Cllr Farren told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme: “We could be doing the exact same thing again in 20 years’ time.
“Whoever has that house, they might have to toss it if we don’t use products that are fit for purpose.”
Cllr Farren said of his parents’ home: “It’s in a beautiful location looking out over the pier. It was built in 2007 and it was their retirement home.
“When they retired they wanted to stay in their dream home. But we had to move them out of it because the house is down for demolition.
“While it’s happening to my parents, it’s also happening to hundreds of others in the area, so that’s why I wanted to highlight it.”
He added: “My mother is 85 years of age, it was her birthday there, and she has dementia.
“My father’s 84 and looks after her and you know it’s a big move for them.
“Especially when you have dementia, it’s a big upheaval, any small change.
“Even our grandchildren were all there helping with the move. You could see the anguish, the emotion that they could feel for their granny and their granddad.”