Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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159. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he will request that the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, SCSI, draft a follow-up report on construction costs for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme, considering that the last one was almost two years ago and costs have considerably increased in that period. [17183/26]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister will know that his predecessor, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, asked the SCSI for the costs of building a typical home in the areas affected by defective concrete blocks. That was two years ago and the costs have increased substantially. That means the gap between what the State will pay families through the grant scheme and the actual costs is getting ever wider. Will the Minister ask the SCSI to get this done?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for raising this important issue with regard to the SCSI and the draft follow-up on construction costs under the defective concrete block grant scheme. My Department keeps costs relating to the defective concrete blocks scheme under continuous review. As the Deputy is aware, following updated costs reports from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and advice from an expert group established to consider the matter, a further increase from the original grant rate set down in the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 was provided for on 23 October 2024. The scheme cap has risen by 10% to €462,000. Increases in the scheme grant rates of between 7.4% and 8.7%, as set out in the 2023 regulations, were also approved on 7 November 2024.

It was agreed the uplift in the rates would be applied retrospectively but primary legislation was required to amend the original Act to allow for this. The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill was initiated in Dáil Éireann on 2 October 2025, passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas and signed into law. The main provisions of the 2025 Act provide that increases in the grant scheme cap and rates from October and November 2024 can retrospectively benefit homeowners who incurred qualifying costs under the grant scheme since 29 March 2024. I have signed the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Act 2025 commencement order to give effect to these provisions, which came into operation on 25 February 2026, with related regulations also adopted on that date.

As for provisions of section 51 of the 2022 Act, a full review of the Act will commence later this year following its first three years in operation. It will offer an opportunity to review various issues arising in terms of the remediation of defective concrete blocks. I will consider whether the area of rates should form part of that review or a separate review.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister and his Department officials continue to insist the people of Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Clare and Limerick are receiving 100% redress based on SCSI costings. It should be remembered that does not include the foundations and other matters. This has to be based on real-world prices. The prices he is working off are at least two years out of date. Indeed, the data used in the March 2024 SCSI report are from 2023. I am going by his standards. He tells me he is giving people 100% redress based on SCSI costings, but those costings are at least two years out of date. It is very simple. The SCSI is a tremendous organisation and has always been professional and co-operative. The Minister should ask the society to do an up-to-date report so people are not tens of thousands of euro short. It is a simple request. Can he do it?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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We continuously keep the scheme under review through consistent and regular stakeholder engagement. An implementation steering group for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme has been in place since 2023 and comprises officials from relevant local authorities, my Department, the Housing Agency and homeowner liaison officers. This regular stakeholder engagement is augmented by regular meetings.

We have done a review of the costings, implemented it and passed the legislation. I am looking at whether such a review will form part of the wider review this year or will be done as a separate review, but it will be done this year.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Please just accept our testimony. I can only speak with authority about Donegal but I listened to families in Mayo and Clare recently when they were before the Oireachtas housing committee. It is crystal clear we do not have anything near 100% redress in the west. That means the scheme currently benefits those of a certain age who can project-manage or can access €40,000, €50,000 or €100,000. The Minister heard me give an example and I could give many more of people having to find almost €200,000 and being locked into mortgages for another 15, 16 or 17 years. That is the reality and it is cruel.

The last time SCSI reported, it took a year and a half for legislation to be brought forward for people going through the scheme. I ask the Minister right now to send a letter to the SCSI. It is a tremendous organisation. It will carry out the work, which is to the benefit of the people, once he asks it. Will he do it now? What would delay him any longer?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I am very conscious of the distressing situation people in Donegal and other counties are going through. I have been to Donegal and spent considerable time listening to people and getting a better understanding of the distressing situation they are in. The wider review has to start on or before July 2026. It may start sooner if the review comes in in relation to IS 465/2018 being changed because that in itself triggers a review. There is another review in relation to the cost. It will be a question of the most effective way of getting the review of rates done.