Pringle ‘bewildered’ at government ‘hype and positivity’ over election results after ‘net losses’ in Donegal

Derry Journal

Transcript

00:00Taoiseach, it is bewildering the amount of hype and positivity there is on the government

00:04benches at the local election results, which have delivered you nicely net seat losses

00:09overall. And it's work that if you're entitled to celebrate then that's fair play to you

00:13and it's political squabbling will go on between Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gàidheal and yourselves

00:18and Sinn Féin and stuff like that there. But none of all Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gàidheal

00:22have returned with only two-thirds of the seats they won in 2019, with many of your

00:27sitting councillors scraping in on the last count. The 100% redress party topped the poll

00:33and turned on an electoral area, which is Minister McConnell's backyard, and took four

00:38council seats in total. They are now a larger party than Fianna Gàidheal on the council

00:43and there is a clear message for government here from the people of Donegal in relation

00:46to the defective block redress crisis. It is not working for the thousands of people

00:51that are living in crumbling homes across the constituency. They see no end to the saga,

00:56they see no future for their families and children, and they see no way out of the distress

00:59that is ruining their lives. They are a strong and stoic people but they are at the end of

01:04their tether. They have told government over and over again why the scheme won't work

01:07for them. Now they have used the electoral system to deliver their message. And they

01:12have elected Ali Farran in Cairndonach, Joy Beard in Burncranach, Thomas Devine in Letterkenny

01:17and Dennis McGee in Gaidóir to reinforce their message. I have raised this issue over

01:2150 times on the floor of this house during the term of this current Dáil and each and

01:25every time I and other opposition TDs from the county get the same old rhetoric from

01:29yourself and the government. You quote figures, you tell me it's the biggest scheme ever of

01:34its kind, you look at me dismissively as if to say, see that's sordid, why are you bringing

01:39it up here again? But you don't really listen and you haven't listened as we give voice

01:43to the real concerns that families have living with defective blocks. And now you have a

01:49chance to do so. The stark reality is plain to be seen, the scheme isn't working. It doesn't

01:55reflect the science that has emerged, science that was driven by the defective block campaign

02:00themselves, not by government departments or the political system. It is failing the

02:04families across Donegal whose lives are devastated by defective blocks. The defective blocks

02:10crisis will also affect community buildings, public buildings and everything built in the

02:14last 20 years in the county. Reflecting a failed self-certification system brought in

02:18by governments of Fianna Fáil and Fingal. You have a chance to fix this. My advice to

02:23you is that you should take it. Make a scheme that once and for all reflects and works to

02:28address the needs of all families in Donegal and indeed those across the country as it's

02:32going to widen out as well. So Taoiseach, my question to you is, will you once and for

02:35all address the failures of the defective block redress scheme and make a scheme that

02:40is fit for purpose? Thank you.

02:42I want to thank Deputy Pringle for raising this issue and I know this has been an extraordinary

02:49tough and difficult and those words don't fully capture the struggle and the stress

02:54that many families living in your own county and some other counties have been dealing

02:58with, with the loss and destruction of their homes due to defective blocks. We have worked

03:04very hard on this issue as a government. Minister McConnell has worked very hard on this at

03:08the cabinet table with our colleagues as well and we have now seen over 1,600 applications.

03:13These are real applications from real people, please don't roll your eyes to heaven, and

03:17they have been received to the previous scheme and now we have received an additional 350,

03:21in fact over 350 applications to the enhanced scheme up to the end of February of this year

03:27at Ciancórla. So this is a lot of people, this is 1,950 applications.

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