Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has questioned why the government hasn’t pursued quarries and manufacturers of defective blocks.
He raised the matter in the Dáil today during Leader’s Questions.
The Sinn Fein spokesman on finance also raised the issues that have emerged from the publishing, on The Ditch website, of the Attorney General’s advice to the government regarding Defective Concrete Blocks (DCBs).
He told Taoiseach Simon Harris his government has failed homeowners affected by the defective concrete block scandal.
“The financial distress and mental anguish they face each and every day is proof of that failure,” he said.
“The Attorney General said in his advice that it was important to urgently engage with local solicitors to pursue wrongdoers – quarries and block manufacturers. He said there was considerable urgency with this.
“He went on to name Cassidy’s Quarry in Donegal. And made it clear that a company going into liquidation could still be pursued, and a claim made against them or their insurers.
“Can I ask you on behalf of homeowners, why did you implement the advice of the Attorney General – which was to limit access to the scheme for homeowners, but ignore his advice to urgently pursue the wrongdoers? Why have you done nothing about that since?”
Deputy Doherty also challenged the government over why it has not followed through on the Attorney General’s advice to pursue ‘wrongdoers’.
“Correspondence that has been released by The Ditch between the Attorney General and the Minister for Housing from September 2021 reveals what we in Sinn Féin suspected from the beginning,” Deputy Doherty said.
“(The publication revealed) A concerted effort at the very heart of government to block and limit financial support for these homeowners as their homes and lives crumbled before their very eyes.”
He added that it exposed an ‘unwavering focus’ on ways to reduce the number of applicants to the redress scheme.
“He (Attorney General) claims that any improvements to the scheme would likely increase the number of applicants to the scheme,” Deputy Doherty added.
“An insinuation that affected homeowners would, in the Attorney General’s words, ‘pitch’ their ‘claims on the most generous basis that can be credibly advanced’ – rather than recognising that victims of this crisis were facing financial ruin and hardship and only ever wanted fairness, justice and a safe home for themselves and their children.
“The AG called into question the competence of certified engineers, questioning their expertise, and even claiming that they would be pressured by homeowners to recommend anything other than what was right. He also questioned the expertise of local authority staff.”
Deputy Doherty described the contents of correspondence as ‘shocking’, “with the Attorney General providing not just legal advice, but policy advice on an issue that has destroyed the lives of so many.”
Deputy Doherty went on to say the government accepted much of this advice, which limited financial support to so many homeowners.
“The disastrous consequences of that decision are known only too well by the victims of this scandal,” he added.
“Only 61 properties have been fully remediated – and that includes under the old scheme which was announced in 2018.”
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