Ward: ‘The people of Donegal have been failed with this short-sighted budget’

Deputy Charles Ward has told Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, that he has "failed the people of Donegal completely, with this short-sighted budget."

The Donegal TD said: "When presenting this budget, Minister Pascal Donohoe said: 'We are making the best possible use of the resources available, to invest in our future and to strengthen our foundations' and I truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, because I have never heard anything so far from reality.

How can you 'strengthen our foundations', when thousands of families in Donegal are literally living in houses with crumbling foundations? How can you ‘invest in our future' when Donegal has been left so far in the past?’

Deputy Ward said there is nothing in the budget documents to address the severity and urgency of the defective concrete crisis, and that it was an insult that defective concrete was only mentioned once in the document.

He said: "Families across this State, through no fault of their own, are living in houses that are crumbling around them. And you have chosen to leave them out of this Budget. This government overlooks this crisis, year after year, budget after budget. It sits back, while families are trapped in dangerous homes."

The 100% Redress Party TD urged the Minister to abolish the Concrete Levy for families rebuilding their homes under the Defective Concrete Scheme, and exempt them from VAT on remediation works.

He said: "Minister, you reduced the VAT rate for completed apartments, why were defective concrete homeowners never considered? It’s a double standard; it’s not good enough."

Deputy Ward spoke of the fact that Donegal bore the brunt of storm Amy last week, stating that he feared crumbling homes don’t stand a chance against extreme weather events.

He also criticised the government for failing to address the potential collapse of the fishing industry, following the recommended 70% cut to our mackerel quota, saying: "Our fishing industry faces losses of up to 200 million euro, and fishing communities across Donegal face even further economic and social decline, yet this isn’t even touched on in the Budget. Coming from an island community, it has been devastating to witness this severe decline over the years."

Deputy Ward said Budget 2026 is a missed opportunity for the government to "finally do the right thing" and urged the government to "correct the glaring inequalities within the budget."