Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD has said that ‘banks must contribute to the cost of fixing defective block homes’.

The Dublin Mid-West TD’s comments were made on foot of a revelation in The Ditch.ie that the Attorney General made the case for such a contribution.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“This week The Ditch.ie revealed that Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien was advised by the Attorney General that banks should make a contribution to the cost of fixing defective block homes, given that they will financially benefit from the scheme.

“For a number of years Sinn Féin called for the continuation of the bank levy and for the funds to be used to remediate homes impacted by defective block and building defects.

“The Attorney General is correct in saying that as the banks will financially benefit from the defective concrete block grant scheme they should contribute to its costs. That the Minister ignored such advice will rightly cause huge anger amongst impacted homeowners.

“Sinn Féin believes that the banks should make a contribution along with other sections of industry. Given the scale of the cost of this cleanup the full bill should not be laid at the door of the taxpayer alone. Government should revisit the AG’s advise.”