Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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222. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated cost to the State of implementing the proposal from the affected homeowners for the penalty-free downsizing of properties that have to be demolished and rebuilt under the remediation of dwellings damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks scheme in order that those homes will cost under the €420,000 cap to rebuild. [44685/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Following on from the Government decision of the 30 November 2021 in respect of the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme, the Government approved the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022 on 21 June and the Bill passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas and was subsequently signed into law by the President on the 23 July, 2022.

The purpose of this Act is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the scheme as agreed by Government on 30 November 2021. Full details can be found at .

The grant awarded to an applicant under the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, where the remediation option is full demolition and rebuild, will be based on the size of the original dwelling or the size of the home the grant recipient intends to build in the case of downsizing. I and the Government have an obligation to the Exchequer and participants in the scheme to ensure that the grants approved are appropriate to the size of home being rebuilt and that homeowners rebuilding a home of the same size are commensurately grant aided. Setting up a two tier grant system with different grants for the same home size would be fraught with difficulty.

I wish to emphasis that the scheme does facilitate downsizing and whilst downsizing may not be financially rewarded under the scheme it would incorrect to state that the scheme financially penalises homeowners who choose to downsize.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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223. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated cost to the State of implementing the proposal from the affected homeowners for a transfer of eligibility the remediation of dwellings damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks scheme for older persons with no ability to raise additional finance to sell their homes and transfer eligibility to the new homeowners after stage 1 approval. [44686/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Following on from the Government decision of the 30 November 2021 in respect of the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme, the Government approved the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022 on 21 June and the Bill passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas and was subsequently signed into law by the President on the 23 July, 2022.

The purpose of this Act is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the scheme as agreed by Government on 30 November 2021. Full details can be found at

.

Section 9 (4) of the Act confirms an individual who purchased a relevant dwelling on or after 31 January 2020, other than a dwelling in respect of which a letter of assurance has been issued, shall not be a relevant owner where he or she knew or ought to have known that defective concrete blocks were used in the construction.

Section 21 of the Act provides for a letter of assurance which attaches to a dwelling and confers an entitlement to apply for a second grant under the scheme in respect of that dwelling, in specific circumstances and where the remediation works are completed. Where a person purchases a dwelling on or after the 31 January 2020, other than a dwelling to which a letter of assurance is attached, they are not considered a relevant owner under the terms of the scheme.

Section 24 of the Act, specifically deals with a change of relevant owner in limited circumstances related to the death of a relevant owner who has been approved for grant assistance. No provision is made for a change of relevant owner in any other circumstance.