There was a concerted effort at the “very heart of Government” to limit financial support for homeowners affected by defective blocks, Sinn Féin has said.
Defective building blocks containing excessive deposits of the minerals mica and pyrite have caused thousands of properties to crack and crumble across the country.
The Government’s Defective Concrete Blocks scheme offers grants of up to €420,000 per dwelling to repair or rebuild them.
Homes in counties Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo are covered under the scheme, with Sligo due to be added.
Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said homeowners with defective concrete blocks have “continued to struggle” despite the introduction of the scheme.
Speaking during the final Leaders’ Questions before the summer recess, Mr Doherty said: “The scheme failed to provide 100 per cent redress as homeowners and their families face financial stress, they face mental anguish while they watch their homes crumble right around them.
“Children are forced to sleep in bedrooms with crumbling walls. Families are forced to live in unsafe conditions, and homeowners are facing massive shortfalls to rebuild their homes and their lives.”
Mr Doherty made reference to advice given to the Government by then-Attorney General Paul Gallagher about the scheme, published on The Ditch news platform, which he said reveals a “concerted effort at the very heart of Government to block and limit financial support” for affected homeowners.
He added: “The contents of the Attorney General’s letter to the Minister for Housing are shocking.
“The unwavering focus on ways to reduce the number of applicants to the Redress Scheme and it shows he talked about that any improvements would likely increase the number of applicants to the scheme – an insinuation that affected homeowners would, in the Attorney General’s words, ‘pitch their claims at the most generous basis that could be credibly be advanced’.”
The Sinn Féin representative said affected homeowners were victims who “only ever wanted justice and a safe home for themselves and their children”.
Mr Doherty further accused Mr Gallagher of calling into question the competence of certified engineers and local authority staff by suggesting they may come under pressure from applicants to the scheme.
“Your Government has failed homeowners affected by the defective concrete block scandal.
“The financial distress but also the mental anguish that they face each and every day is proof of that failure.”
Tanaiste Micheal Martin said he “disagrees fundamentally” with Mr Doherty’s comments as he outlined how access to Government funds for affected householders had been expanded.
He acknowledged that the initial scheme was unsatisfactory but added: “That’s why the Government acted in terms of dramatically changing and transforming the scheme.”
He rejected allegations of cost-limiting by saying the estimated costs of the scheme are €2.3 billion, which he described as a “very significant response”.
“I would reject the assertion from Sinn Féin and look, you haven’t been on the ball on this for quite a long time.”
