Conor Sheehan: Scheme 'Designed to Fail' - Demands Review
Conor Sheehan addresses the Dáil to criticise the government’s IS465 pyrite redress scheme, welcoming the inclusion of Wexford and Fingal but arguing the changes are too incremental. He warns the scheme was designed to fail, calls for an end-to-end remediation model based on the Fingal Pyrite scheme, and demands an urgent review in July.
Key criticisms: Conor Sheehan outlines the core flaws of IS465, arguing that technical, case-by-case requirements delay urgent repairs and that the scheme remains narrow, exclusionary and unaffordable. He highlights that side-by-side rebuilding and social housing remain uncovered, leaving many homeowners exposed.
Scientific basis and data concerns: Sheehan stresses that redress must follow the latest scientific understanding and not rely on flawed data. He notes the workload on the Housing Agency and the delays in designation that force homeowners to wait while structural damage progresses.
Human impact and statistics: Sheehan points to the human cost: families stranded in dangerous, defective homes as properties devalue. He notes that by the end of last year over 3,000 applications had been made but only 7% of applicants had completed the necessary work.
Demand for reform: Sheehan calls for a comprehensive end-to-end remediation scheme modelled on the Fingal Pyrite scheme, and presses for an immediate review of IS465 to be published in July to address affordability, scope and technical barriers.
Key criticisms: Conor Sheehan outlines the core flaws of IS465, arguing that technical, case-by-case requirements delay urgent repairs and that the scheme remains narrow, exclusionary and unaffordable. He highlights that side-by-side rebuilding and social housing remain uncovered, leaving many homeowners exposed.
Scientific basis and data concerns: Sheehan stresses that redress must follow the latest scientific understanding and not rely on flawed data. He notes the workload on the Housing Agency and the delays in designation that force homeowners to wait while structural damage progresses.
Human impact and statistics: Sheehan points to the human cost: families stranded in dangerous, defective homes as properties devalue. He notes that by the end of last year over 3,000 applications had been made but only 7% of applicants had completed the necessary work.
Demand for reform: Sheehan calls for a comprehensive end-to-end remediation scheme modelled on the Fingal Pyrite scheme, and presses for an immediate review of IS465 to be published in July to address affordability, scope and technical barriers.
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Transcript
Go raibh míle maith agat lás ceann Comhairle. Minister, while we very much welcome the inclusion of Wexford and Fingal into this scheme, and I know my colleague, Deputy Rob O'Donoghue, who will speak after me, has done a lot of work in this regard, it still doesn't cover the fundamental issues that exist with the scheme as it stands. While these changes may be necessary, they are still far too incremental and because of the way government have designed this scheme, this scheme was designed effectively to fail. The fact that the Act still requires rigorous case-by-case technical assessment by the Housing Agency to designate a new area, which does delay urgent repairs for homeowners in areas that are awaiting designation, notwithstanding the other issues that have been well aired at this stage across this House for many years around the fact that it is still not 100% redress and there is nothing there to cover social housing, to cover child care facilities, and we still have the outstanding issue of the side-by-side rebuilding, which Deputy Ward very eloquently raised on Leader's Questions today, and the scheme is fundamentally unaffordable and homeowners in counties that have not yet officially been designated face immense stress watching for structural cracks while waiting for their county to be approved, meanwhile their property, the thing that they have worked night and day for, is devaluing in front of them. We all know that this issue is way more widespread than originally feared and that's why we need an end-to-end remediation scheme, as many of us have reiterated across this House for years now, based on the premise of the Fingal Pyrite scheme and not this grand scheme, which is inflexible. And how many more times are we going to be here incrementally, you know, chipping away at this scheme, adding this county and that county and that local area, because technical amendments to this bill have failed to fix the core issues and the 2025 amendment bill missed an important opportunity to address side-by-side rebuilding. This scheme is by its nature far too narrow, exclusionary and limited. Minister, where is the review of IS465? It's been repeatedly delayed. This is cruel, it's indefensible, with families who are literally stranded at the moment in dangerous defective homes. It is vital that the redress is based on the latest scientific understanding of this crisis and not on flawed data. And we also need to see the review of the scheme urgently in July of this year, because while over 3,000 applications have been made by the end of last year, only 7% of applicants have completed the necessary work. Go raibh maith agat.