Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the issue of defective concrete blocks is a particularly emotive one for households and I sympathise with all who are caught in this distressing situation. It is very worrying for those affected. The issue came to light in 2013 when significant cracking of external walls was recorded in houses in Donegal and Mayo. An expert panel was established in 2016 to investigate the incidence and causes of this cracking. As part of its work, the panel was asked to identify the numbers of dwellings which appeared to be affected by defects in the block work in Donegal and Mayo, to carry out a desktop study, which would include a consultation process with affected homeowners, public representatives, local authorities, industry stakeholders and other relevant parties, to establish the nature of the problem in the affected dwellings, and outline a range of technical options for remediation and the means by which those technical options could be applied;

The report, which was based on extensive research, investigations and analysis, was published in 2017. It concluded that the reason for the widespread pattern cracking in the affected dwellings was primarily due to excessive amounts of deleterious materials in the aggregate used to manufacture the concrete blocks. The deleterious material in Donegal was primarily muscovite mica and in Mayo it was primarily reactive pyrite. In many of the affected dwellings, the problem appears to have been exacerbated by being in geographic areas of severe exposure to the elements and it seemed to be made worse by the extreme weather conditions of the winter we all remember in 2009-2010

The panel estimated that up to 4,800 private homes and 1,000 social homes in Donegal and 345 private homes and 17 social homes in Mayo could be affected. It put forward a number of engineering solutions that have been incorporated in the defective concrete blocks scheme. These range from removal and replacement of the outer leaf of affected walls only to the complete rebuilding of a dwelling. Varying levels of grants are available depending on the remedial option recommended in the engineer's report or 90% of the eligible costs, whichever is the lesser. Specific details can be accessed at .

The Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks in Construction (Remediation) Financial Assistance Regulations 2020 came into operation on 31 January 2020 and the scheme has been open for applications since the end of June 2020. It provides for a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in the counties of Donegal and Mayo only to carry out necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged due to the use of defective concrete blocks. I must emphasise that it is not a compensation scheme and is very much a scheme of last resort for homeowners who have no other practical options.

I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that a lot of work has gone into investigating and quantifying the extent of the problem in Donegal and Mayo and designing a response to address the issue. While such a comprehensive analysis is not available for counties outside of Donegal and Mayo, in terms of Clare, departmental officials are in communication with Clare County Council regarding the evidential data requirements. Any consideration of an extension to the defective concrete blocks grants scheme would require the same rigorous analysis as that carried out in Donegal and Mayo. Therefore, speculation on any extension is premature at this point. Again, I thank the Deputy for his interest in this issue.

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