DONEGAL TD Charles Ward has challenged the government in the Dáil over seriously and terminally ill residents living in defective concrete homes.
He revealed that Housing has responded only with generic letters that ignore medical urgency and offer no practical support.
Ward highlighted constituents with severely reduced lung capacity, elderly residents with heart conditions and dementia, and terminally ill families desperate to see their homes rebuilt before they die.
“Each day in these unsafe homes worsens their health, yet many are stuck in the system, unable to progress through the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme due to appeals, capacity issues, and administrative obstacles,” he said.
“Housing continues to treat them as standard cases, offering no fast-tracking, no interim support, and no real solution.”
He gave specific examples including a lung-impaired constituent whose doctors warn prolonged exposure to damp and mould is actively worsening her condition; an elderly couple forced to live in a home that aggravates their heart conditions and dementia; and a terminally ill parent desperate to see the family home rebuilt for their children before they die.
“These are real families, not statistics,” Ward said.
Ward pressed Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, to take urgent action.
“These families cannot wait for bureaucracy,” Ward said.
“Where administrative delay intersects with serious illness, it is no longer a procedural issue; it is a public health crisis.
“Health has a responsibility to intervene where Housing is failing.
“Leadership means acting decisively to protect lives, not offering generic letters that leave people to deteriorate.”
