Council decides against livestreaming Defective Block Committee meetings

Donegal County Council will not livestream Defective Block Committee meetings to the public.

The decision was made after a motion was tabled and discussed at length at the January plenary meeting of Donegal County Council.

The original motion was brought before the council for the third time by 100% Redress Cllr Tomás Seán Devine. He said that defective concrete block owners had voiced their support for livestreaming meetings. Currently, defective block committee meetings are open for the public to attend in-person only.

“Not everyone can make it to Lifford to watch the meeting and with thousands of affected homeowners, business owners, clubs, community halls etc. all affected, it is only right that they can see these meetings happening,” said Cllr Devine.

He stated that infrastructure is already in place for monthly plenary meetings, which are currently the only meetings of Donegal County Council that are livestreamed.

Cllr Devine also questioned the €22,500 cost of livestreaming plenary meetings in 2024, saying that he “didn’t get a complete answer” when he requested a breakdown on the figure.

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“I would like to get this matter resolved once and for all,” said Cllr Devine. “There’s people who want to come back from work and play back today’s meeting and watch what was going on. They have that opportunity at the plenary meeting. The defective block meeting is affecting thousands of people.

“I do believe they have a right to see what’s going on and what we’re doing, so they can see the updates from the housing agency and from whoever is coming in to do reports.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Devine’s party colleague, Cllr Denis McGee.

“It is council policy to stream only plenary meetings,” said Mr Michael McGarvey, Director of Environment and Climate, Property Management and Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme in response. He acknowledged that the matter has been raised on previous occasions.

Mr McGarvey said it is not currently recommended that livestreaming would be extended beyond plenary meetings, raising logistics and the implications for other council committees.

He said that there were 123 meetings in 2024, with 23 of those being council meetings.

Cllr Devine restated his wish for the motion to be passed there and then. He was supported by Independent Cllr Declan Meehan and fellow 100% Redress Cllr Joy Beard, who said that livestreaming meetings would provide a “lifeline” for defective block homeowners to understand proceedings.

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However, Fianna Fáil Cllr Martin McDermott raised concerns that livestreaming meetings could have negative implications for committee members. He told council members that in his role as chair of the Defective Block Committee from 2019 to 2025, links to meetings were shared to advocacy groups in the early days of the committee. This in turn led to video snippets being shared out of context on social media.

“We went through a very difficult period, a period I wouldn’t go through again,” said Cllr McDermott.

“I for one won’t be going back to that because I wouldn’t live through what I lived through for three or four years. Getting messages at all times of the night and saying things to me and about me. The reality was: we were all trying our best at that time to get a scheme to help people.”

He added that the people who acted maliciously before “haven’t gone away” and said that he would be “very nervous of putting that out online again”.

Following a lengthy discussion among councillors, the meeting was briefly adjourned. Independent Cllr Niamh Kennedy then proposed a counter-motion for livestreaming services not to be extended beyond plenary meetings.

The counter-motion was passed by 17 to 15 votes by councillors, meaning Cllr Devine’s motion did not pass.

Deputy Charles Ward TD of the 100% Redress Party has strongly condemned the decision.

He said: "This vote shows the ordinary people of Donegal that the council is more concerned with protecting themselves than serving those who elected them. All homeowners want is honesty, transparency, and the ability to see who is supporting them. Instead, this decision kept people in the dark and sent a clear message that ordinary homeowners do not matter.”

The party has been flooded with calls and messages from angry and anxious homeowners, frustrated that their voices are being ignored and that decisions affecting their homes are being made behind closed doors. People want to know who is working for them and standing with them, yet this action has shut them out of decisions that directly impact their lives.

Deputy Ward raised the matter on the floor of the Dáil, putting it on the public record and asking the Minister to confirm what powers, guidance, or regulations exist to ensure transparency.

“The public will see this vote as a betrayal of those the councillors were elected to represent. We will continue to fight for full transparency and accountability, so homeowners are no longer denied a voice in decisions about their own lives and homes,” said Deputy Ward.

The 100% Redress Party demands that local authorities and the Government ensure full transparency in all meetings concerning the defective concrete blocks scheme, and that homeowners are treated with the respect, honesty, and accountability they deserve.