Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Fair play to the Deputy for trying to get me on the hook for that one. Obviously there is a process, which I outlined very clearly in my opening response. The process is at a very advanced stage and once the draft report is submitted to the Department, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, guarantees that it will be looked at it without delay and a decision made theron.

The purpose of the DCB Act is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the DCB scheme as agreed by the Government on 30 November 2021. This includes 100% grants subject to an overall maximum grant of €420,000 per dwelling. The Housing Agency plays a key role in acting under the enhanced scheme by taking on the financial cost of testing and assessing homes and determining on behalf of the local authorities the appropriate remediation option and grant amount for each dwelling. Upon commencement of the Act, the Housing Agency was required to process a large volume of transitional applications referred by the local authorities from the previous scheme in addition to new applications referred. In addition to this large body of work, the Housing Agency is currently assessing applications to entry onto the enhanced scheme from four new local authorities, including Sligo County Council, and is in contact with a number of other local authorities. The work of the Housing Agency is integral to the success of the scheme and the Department approves an annual budget for the Housing Agency in respect of its role in the enhanced defective concrete blocks scheme. This funding is to cover the operational costs of a regional office, payments due to framework consultants and professional support and costs.

Ultimately, there are two sides to the issue. Given how hard people work to get a mortgage and buy a house and raise a family or whatever their circumstances may be, I cannot imagine anything worse than something happening to it such as being afflicted with defective blocks. It must be an horrendous situation to have one's home under threat. The State is stepping forward to support such people in many parts of this country. Equally, this is an awful lot of taxpayers' money and we must have robust mechanisms in place to make sure the money is targeted and goes to those who need it. That is what this process ensures will happen. If it is appropriate, the people of Sligo will benefit from it as well.

See this speech in context