Homeowners affected by defective blocks are being “hoodwinked” by Government “rhetoric”, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Angela Ward of the Donegal Mica Action Group accused the Government of deploying a deliberate strategy of repeating statements to achieve an “illusory truth effect”.
The State’s €3 billion defective concrete blocks grant scheme does not cover 100% of costs, she told the Joint Committee on Housing, despite Government claims to the contrary.
She added that people also must make hefty payments up front to join a scheme which she claimed is ignoring basic science.
“Homeowners are being stonewalled at every turn by those who have the power to make the changes required.”
They are forced to “endure Government rhetoric” and are learning that “Government has deliberately hoodwinked” them, Ms Ward said.
Dr Martina Cleary, Chair of the Clare Pyrite Action Group, said that there has been “little to nothing done to alleviate the plight” of homeowners in her county since she last addressed the committee two years ago.
She criticised “non-transparent metrics” used in the “highly complex and glacially slow” scheme, which sees people “put on hold” and “left waiting for months”.
These delays allow the damage to homes to worsen, Dr Clearly said, along with the “trauma” and “devastation” it inflicts on people and communities.
Urgent action is needed, she urged.
Some older people fear they “will not live to see their home restored”, Dr Clearly said.
The delays in restoring the value of their home also causes problems in accessing the Fair Deal Scheme, and consigns them to “absolute limbo”.
Homeowners are being asked to pay €30,000 to remove old foundations, she said, a cost which will not be covered by the scheme.
Conor O’Donnell, Secretary of the Mayo Pyrite Action Group, said that the scheme is not enough to help him to rebuild his home, and dismissed its enhancements as “delaying tactics”.
