Mr. Kevin Kelly:

I am chief executive of Mayo County Council and chair of the County and City Management Association, CCMA, committee on housing, building and land use. I am accompanied today by Mr. McGarvey, who is the director of services at Donegal County Council.

On behalf of the CCMA, I thank the committee for its invitation to again contribute to the discussions regarding the defective concrete block scheme. When I last attended this committee, I reflected on the distress that defective concrete blocks have caused to property owners in counties Donegal and Mayo originally, but now also in Limerick and Clare and the ensuing impact on homes, families and entire communities. Each of the local authorities included in the scheme to date are at varying stages in the consideration of applications. Appendix 1 to my submission contains the updated position on the numbers and stages of applications for each county.

In response to this issue, Donegal and Mayo county councils established local committees comprised of councillors, action group members, homeowners and council executive members. These committees have been engaged in extensive discussions to facilitate greater understanding and to address the multi-faceted complexities associated with this issue and its resolution. In Mayo, the committee is made up of seven councillors, members of the council executive and homeowners impacted by defective concrete blocks. The committee, which meets regularly, is chaired by the cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council’s housing strategic policy committee. In Donegal, the defective concrete block committee was established as a formal committee of the council, with 12 elected members on this committee nominated by plenary council. The Donegal Mica Action Group is invited to the meetings and has participated in them. There have been 16 meetings of the committee to date. Although Clare and Limerick are at earlier stages of the process, they are aware of the existence and usefulness of such a committee if it is required in due course. It is anticipated that there may be in the region of 6,000 affected homes in Donegal and a further 800 in Mayo, with the initial estimates for Clare and Limerick being 620 and 700, respectively.

The committee will also be aware that there is an implementation steering group made up of officials from the relevant local authorities, the Department, the Housing Agency and the homeowner’s liaison officer to ensure the successful roll-out of the enhanced scheme. The Minister has acknowledged the scheme will evolve and that, given the complex nature of the scheme, it will be important to keep the operation of the regulations and guidelines under review. The concerns of the homeowners were brought to the group by Mr. John O Connor, the homeowner liaison officer, who also attended the group, which has met on nine occasions.

Previously, it had been identified that it was important to have extra liaison personnel in place to deal with issues quickly and to maintain a good level of communications locally with affected homeowners. The appointment of community facilitators through LEADER local development companies working closely alongside local authority personnel dedicated to resolving issues swiftly and maintaining effective communication with homeowners has proven to be beneficial and there is a significant ongoing workload in this regard. There are two facilitators in place in each of Mayo and Donegal. There is also a facilitator in place in Clare and the position is being kept under review in Limerick.

A scheme for social houses impacted by defective concrete blocks has been drafted by the Department and local authorities look forward to its implementation in order that impacted properties can be brought back in to beneficial use. All of the local authorities currently in the scheme have confirmed the existence of social houses impacted by defective concrete blocks but definitive numbers and the extent of the damage has yet to be quantified.

In conclusion, we all understand that the remediation of property damage due to defective concrete blocks is a significant task. It necessitates a continued concerted effort across government, local authorities, the Housing Agency and homeowners. The objective of local authorities remains to undertake their functions under the scheme in a manner that will deliver the most prompt and beneficial outcomes for the homeowners affected by this crisis.