Mattie McGrath slams government over soaring modular home costs
Mattie McGrath criticised Sinn Fein and the government over housing policy and the rising cost of modular homes, saying promised house-building targets have not been met. He challenged the minister and officials over a Tronmel modular scheme he says was quoted at 200,000 but now costs 440,000.
Allegations on modular home costs
McGrath said he met the integration section of the government department, the OPW and a CISC representative about 82 modular homes in Tronmel. He quoted assurances that the modules would cost 200,000, and said he had expected a figure closer to 70,000, but claimed the cost had risen to 440,000, which he described as "beggars belief."
Questions about accountability
He told the Dáil those officials had assured him of the lower price only months earlier and asked what accountability exists when figures change so drastically. McGrath said meetings with the integration department and OPW produced assurances that turned out to be "baloney" and pressed the minister for answers.
Critique of government housing record
McGrath criticised Sinn Fein for regularly raising housing while, he argued, being part of government on other issues and not having built houses themselves. He invoked past builders, citing "Hallie's builders and Art Finan," as examples of when houses were actually built and contrasted that with current failures and repeated manifesto promises such as 50,000 affordable homes.
Call for political change
He accused the government of having "lost [its] way" in multiple areas and concluded the debate by saying it was time for the government to leave office and let someone else run it. His remarks combined frustration over rising costs with a broader condemnation of housing policy and delivery.
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Sinn Fein brought forward this motion tonight, and to be honest, and this is a discussion of late, like the people out in the country are confused, because Sinn Fein have been back in this government on literally everything you've done, they're corny in issues that you did, okay to get up every two weeks and talk about the housing, but they've never built the house themselves, and I don't know what's wrong, I go back to the days when Hallie's builders and Art Finan, they built the house all over the country, they put 50 minutes in the back of the lorry going off that time, and they built the house, and the government paid them to build them, so we've lost their way completely, yes, Fianna Fail did promise to build 50,000 affordable homes before, but that's like every manifesto, and everything that Minister Martin, or Tony Martin says, is like snow off a ditch of promises to go, but he keep fooling the people, and once he keeps fooling the people, he's lucky, but I don't know how he does it, so I have a question, a specific question to the Minister, I mean, I went to meet the integration section of the government department, and OPW, and the representative of CISC, when they went building 82 modular homes in Tronmel, and they assured me, after detail, we're now in the house meeting, that the modules were going to cost 200,000, I said that's an outrageous price for something that should cost 70,000, all land costs everything else, and now we find out they're costing 440,000, 3,000, it's beggars belief, how this could happen, that a modular home, a little tin building, with some timber, that won't last 40 years, I'd say, that we could spend that kind of money, so we've definitely lost our way, you know what that song is, but you've lost your way in so many areas, that you could allow that to happen, they guaranteed me, what good is I meeting the integration department, and the public face of it, and meeting OPW, when they tell me something, that's baloney, when it's more than double the price that they told me, that's only three or four months ago, and I sat down with them, and they assured me, so, how kind of accountability have we, I rest my case, it's just time for you to leave office, and let somebody else run it.
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