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

I thank Senator Dooley. Similar to the situation right across other counties, it is a hugely traumatic time for these families and I acknowledge that. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has been deeply committed to resolving this since taking up office. He has acted with a great sense of purpose in establishing the working group. That working group is not directly representing the families the Senator refers to in County Clare, but it is a representative group that has brought the issues to light. Similarly, if owners were to apply under the existing defective concrete blocks, DCB, scheme they would not have got this enhanced scheme. There are positives to be seen in what has been a very progressive and positive resolution to this, or certainly, the start of a resolution to this, in the scheme announced by the Government this week. It is a very expansive scheme, with 100% redress as requested. There are some concerns about the sliding scale but it contains many other elements that I hope will lead families in counties Sligo, Mayo and Donegal to see this as a very positive development. Hopefully then we can apply this to Country Clare. I will give the Department's official response but there has certainly not been procrastination. A huge amount of work has been done since this Government was formed. I recognise the trauma it has caused the Senator's constituents.

As the Senator is aware, the Government has agreed to fundamentally overhaul the defective concrete blocks scheme with a number of major improvements for affected homes. Details of these changes were published on Tuesday, 30 November. Not only will this improve the scheme for local authorities currently within scope of the scheme, namely, those in Donegal and Mayo, it will also benefit those local authority areas that come into the scheme in the future as a result of the extension beyond Donegal and Mayo. In this regard the Department received a submission from Clare County Council, dated 23 July 2021, requesting the extension of the defective concrete blocks grant scheme to County Clare. A response issued to the council on 3 August 2021 indicating that the Department would review the submission and seeking a detailed breakdown of costs associated with the report. A breakdown of costs associated with the report was received on 28 September 2021. In order to progress matters, a meeting was held on 9 November 2021 between officials from the Department and Clare County Council to review issues contained within the submissions, which required further elaboration in order to evidentially support an extension of the defective concrete blocks grant scheme to County Clare.

Clare County Council undertook to review its submission in light of the detailed discussion which took place and to address the gaps in evidential data which were identified. The Department is eager to progress this matter and will, as a matter of priority, review clarifications when received from the local authority to support its application for an extension of the defective concrete blocks scheme to that local authority area. An extension of the scheme to Clare and other local authority areas has been considered as part of wider deliberations on the scheme by the Government. In this regard, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage may, subject to Government approval, extend the scheme beyond Donegal and Mayo to additional counties as appropriate and required, where the evidence supports such an extension. Therefore, it is critical that Clare County Council submit all clarifications and information requested to support the inclusion of County Clare. I can assure the Senator that on receipt by the Department of the clarifications sought, progress can be made on the requested extension of the DCB scheme to County Clare.