€747,086 DCB cost to Council with 43 vacant social homes in Letterkenny–Milford MD

Donegal County Council has confirmed that almost €750,000 has been spent on essential immediate repairs to council-owned social housing damaged by defective concrete blocks in the Letterkenny–Milford Municipal District.

Following a formal question submitted by Cllr Tomás Seán Devine of the 100% Redress Party, it was learned that the total cost to date stands at €747,086.

The figures were secured through the direct intervention of Cllr Devine, who sought a full breakdown of expenditure and the current status of affected properties.

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In addition, it has been confirmed that 43 social homes are currently vacant within the MD due to defective concrete blocks. Of these 29 homes were vacated because tenants had to be relocated due to DCB damage and 14 became vacant for other reasons but are also affected by defective blocks.

Speaking following the disclosure, Cllr Devine said: “These figures highlight the scale of the crisis facing not only private homeowners, but council tenants and the public purse. This is taxpayers’ money being used to deal with a problem that should never have arisen, and will not fix the problem in the long term as we know every property, based on the latest scientific evidence, needs to be demolished. The Government must ensure full and swift recoupment of any temporary repairs so that local services are not impacted.”

Cllr Devine said that in the middle of a housing emergency, it is deeply concerning that 43 homes in one municipal district alone are unavailable for allocation.

“Every vacant home represents a family waiting. In the middle of a housing crisis, we simply cannot afford to have properties lying idle because of defective blocks," he added. "We need urgent, streamlined solutions to get these homes remediated and back into use. Sadly, without a social housing remediation scheme in place, social homes will continue to deteriorate and need further temporary interventions to keep them habitable at huge costs, but we don’t have an option due to a lack of will from the government to adopt a scheme for social homes.

"Even when a social housing remediation scheme is approved, there is no temporary accommodation to rehouse the families which is a major issue and we need the government to supply temporary accommodation which we have seen being used in other counties to deal with the housing crisis – we have two crises both housing related.”

He added that he will continue to press for transparency, full funding, and accountability to ensure that both council tenants and homeowners are treated fairly.