Donegal woman sees rebuild appeal accepted and rejected in the one day
The homeowner was told she had won demolition appeal within the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme before the State retracted decision hours later
A Donegal TD has raised serious concerns in the Dáil over what he described as a serious failure in the handling of communications within the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme after a constituent received conflicting official emails within hours.
During Leaders’ Questions, Deputy Charles Ward said his constituent, who has been living for years in a structurally unsafe and deteriorating home while engaging with the State remediation scheme, received an official email on the morning of May 18 confirming that her appeal had been upheld and that full demolition and rebuild had been directed.
The communication was understood to be the outcome of her appeal after years of delay and uncertainty while her home continued to deteriorate. Later the same day, a second email was issued stating that the original communication had been sent in error and did not reflect the decision of the Appeals Board.]
Deputy Ward told the Dáil the reversal was not a routine administrative correction but a failure that had immediate human consequences for a person already under sustained strain due to the condition of her home.
He said the issue was not the independence of the Appeals Panel but the fact that an official written communication issued within a State-administered scheme confirmed a full remediation outcome before being withdrawn within hours.
Deputy Ward said the case highlights a lack of adequate safeguards in the communication of decisions under the scheme, particularly where applicants are living in unsafe housing and prolonged uncertainty. He said such failures cannot be treated as procedural issues in isolation as they directly affect people living in unsafe homes while waiting years for resolution.
He called for assurances from the Government that no other applicant would be informed of a final determination, only for it to be withdrawn shortly afterwards due to an administrative error.