James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That Dáil Éireann notes that" and substitute the following:

"— the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 underpins an enhanced Grant Scheme which provides grant funding to people whose homes have been affected by Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) and replaced a previous scheme;

— the DCB Scheme is neither a redress nor a compensation scheme, rather it is a grant scheme of last resort to enable affected homeowners remediate their homes and move on with their lives;

— over 3,000 homeowners are now at various stages of the Scheme and will be supported with grants for 100 per cent of eligible expenditure up to a maximum cap of €462,000 per household;

— applicants under the previous grant scheme have not been disadvantaged from being early movers, this was allowed for in the 2022 Act under transitional provisions and these early movers have benefited from the increased scheme cap and grant rates provided for;

— decisions regarding remediation options are made by independent engineers acting on behalf of the Housing Agency under the Scheme and can be appealed by homeowners who are dissatisfied with decisions made;

— appeals under the DCB scheme are covered by a statutory process under an Appeals Panel led by a Senior Counsel and with experts from the legal and engineering professions appointed by the Minister under a clear and transparent process managed on his behalf by the Public Appointments Service;

— the appeals system is an independent statutory function under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 and it has now begun to issue determinations to appellants and is expected to accelerate its work in the coming weeks;

— the approach taken under the Pyrite Remediation Scheme (PRS) in Leinster was considered in the development of the DCB Grant Scheme, however, due to the different scale of both schemes, the homogenous nature of the damage caused in the PRS relative to DCB, and the flexibility sought by DCB homeowners, the DCB Grant scheme required a different approach more responsive to the needs of DCB homeowners;

— further to Government and the Department of Health's commitment to enhanced mental health supports for individuals and families affected by the defective concrete blocks issue, free counselling sessions are available to individuals and families in the five relevant counties;

— the Grant Scheme was designed in accordance with the prevailing scientific evidence available at the time and will be amended as and when required should the scientific evidence indicate that to be necessary;

— in November 2024, following receipt of preliminary results from scientific research into damaged dwellings in Co. Donegal, all homeowners who have been given a non-demolition option were offered a choice of continuing with the work on their dwelling under the option determined or the option of a full technical review of their application by the Housing Agency, this review will be informed by the current research once the full review of the national standard (I.S. 465) is complete, if homeowners choose to continue with their works, they continue to avail of the 40-year government guarantee;

— the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) launched a public consultation for the draft I.S. 465 "Assessment, testing and categorisation of damaged buildings incorporating concrete blocks containing certain deleterious materials" on 31st March, 2025, the consultation closed on 11th July, 2025 and yielded in excess of 640 submissions the NSAI 's Technical Committee is currently in the process of reviewing the submissions received; and

— the DCB Scheme is a residential homes scheme, the focus and priority has and will continue to be to assist individual homeowners who find themselves in distress; Non-residential properties can and are dealt with under other funding streams; and

further notes that:

— in line with the commitment to keep the scheme under review and improve it, the Government approved the priority drafting of legislation that will provide that the increases in the grant scheme cap and rates from October and November 2024, will be extended to a wider group of homeowners who incurred eligible costs under the grant scheme since 29th March, 2024;

— in addition, a number of small amendments to the legislation are also proposed to provide for to ensure the scheme can be continued to be applied in as efficient and equitable a manner as possible for all homeowners, this legislation is being progressed as expeditiously as possible and the Bill is included in the autumn 2025 Government Legislation Programme for Priority Publication;

— Local Authorities, working together with the Office for Emergency Planning and the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management have systems in place to assist all homeowners to remain safe and to secure alternative accommodation should it be required in the case of any severe weather occurrence;

— the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has engaged proactively with the financial sector (banks and insurance companies) around the interaction of the DCB Scheme with their services, banks and insurance companies have clearly stated that homes certified, as being remediated under the DCB scheme will be treated in the same manner as all other homes;

— the Banking Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) chairs a forum which brings together various stakeholders including the banking industry, engineers, construction, insurance, and the legal sector;

— the remediation option grant amount paid to homeowners, which is based on estimates provided by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and augmented by the Expert Group, includes an amount for Value-Added Tax charged to homeowners;

— any additional costs that apply to the building of houses arising from the concrete levy are minimal, bearable and reasonable in light of the need for the construction industry to make a contribution, however small, towards the cost of the Defective Concrete Block Redress Scheme - the levy has thus far raised in excess of €40 million which has helped fund the homeowner scheme;

— following extensive consultation with local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage intends to shortly bring forward a DCB social homes scheme as provided for under the legislation, to facilitate the remediation of social housing affected by DCB;

— the Programme for Government commits to the establishment of a Building Standards Regulatory Authority, it is intended that it will be an independent central competent authority, with the powers of a national Building Control Authority, and national Market Surveillance Authority for construction products, the Authority will act as a centre of best practice, driving, promoting and fostering compliance, competency and consistency in building control and market surveillance systems and throughout the construction industry, a Building Standards Agency will be established under the Local Government (Corporate Bodies) Act pending the establishment of a Building Standards Regulatory Authority; and

highlights that:

— over 3,000 homeowners are now at various stages of the DCB Grant Scheme and will be supported with grants for 100 per cent of eligible expenditure up to a maximum cap of €462,000 per household - this represents a 10 per cent increase in the maximum cap since the scheme launched in 2023;

— more than €193 million has been spent on the scheme to date with a commitment to more than double the level of funding for 2026 to €175 million;

— the DCB Scheme is actively helping homeowners to rebuild their homes, allowing them to move on with their lives;

— the Government remains committed to funding the full remediation of all homes affected by DCB and recognises that this may cost more than €2.2 billion (excluding inflation) and as such this scheme ranks as the most generous in the world;

— additional counties continue to be added to the Scheme clearly showing the Government's commitment to help all those affected by the legacy defects caused by defective block; and

— a formal review of the Scheme will be initiated by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in July 2026, in accordance with the provisions of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, in the interim, a DCB Implementation Steering Group made up of officials from the Department, all relevant local authorities, the Housing Agency and the Homeowners Liaison Officer monitors and keeps the various elements of the scheme under review."

I thank the Independent and Parties Technical Group and others for the opportunity to speak on this important matter. Today's motion, which is comprehensive in its coverage, sets out a number of matters for discussion and I will do my best in the time I have to address as many as I can. The Government recognises the distress experienced by thousands of homeowners caused by the use of defective concrete blocks in their homes. My Government colleagues and I are committed to ensuring that all such homeowners are financially assisted to remediate their homes and to allow them to move on with their lives. I met with various stakeholders in Donegal earlier this year, including representatives of the Mica Action Group. I also met with a large number of Donegal councillors from all parties and none, alongside senior management of the council. Each group raised important matters, including the need to extend eligibility for the cap and rate increase to a larger group of homeowners. Through this series of meetings and site visits to homes affected by defective concrete blocks, I saw at first hand the real difficulties that the owners of such homes are facing through no fault of their own. It demonstrated to me the continued importance and contribution of the current scheme, in place since July 2023, in helping those affected to fix their homes and move on with their lives.

My Department remains in regular contact with those affected, not just in Donegal but throughout the country. We continue to work to listen to homeowners as we keep the scheme under review to identify where we can improve how it operates. I therefore say with confidence that the scheme is now really beginning to deliver for many homeowners in the affected counties. Over 3,000 homeowners are now at various stages of the defective concrete blocks grant scheme and will be supported with grants for eligible expenditure up to a maximum cap of €460,000 per household. This represents a 10% increase in the maximum cap since the scheme launched in 2023. As at the end of August 2025, 247 homes have been remediated, with a further 983 homeowners notifying their relevant designated local authority of the date of commencement of the works to remediate their homes. I believe that is good progress. That is why we are redoubling our efforts, in partnership with the local authority sector, the Housing Agency and the homeowners to accelerate funding and work under the scheme. More than €193 million has been provided to date.

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