Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has urged the government to scrap their concrete block levy plans altogether, amid media reports today that they will ‘go back to the drawing board’ with the flawed proposals.

Teachta Crowe said:

“I have repeatedly called on the government to scrap their flawed concrete levy plans, which I fear will risk pushing up house prices in south Dublin even further due to the badly designed nature of the proposals. Sinn Féin brought forward a motion in the Dáil two weeks ago outlining these flaws and urging the government to drop the plan.

“The scheme is badly designed and will mean that people living in homes with defects and first time buyers will see their house prices soar. It is totally unacceptable that these homeowners and buyers should be expected to foot the bill for the concrete blocks scandal.

“We cannot allow this proposal to hit ordinary people’s pockets, at a time when they are already struggling with sky high housing costs due to this government’s failure to tackle the growing housing crisis.

“I am very concerned that, despite the flaws being outlined to the government by Sinn Féin repeatedly, media reports that they are ‘going back to the drawing board’ rather than scrap these proposals altogether. I am again urging the government to put a stop to this now, give people and the industry certainty, and make plain their intentions.

“The Government TDs in Dublin South West must come forward today and give clarity about what is going on. People need to know that the government won’t insist on pushing this poorly thought out proposal through and risk making the housing crisis even worse.”