Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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324. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will ensure all homeowners who are currently stuck in stage 1 of their application to the defective concrete block grant scheme, including those who applied after February 2022, will have the 90% of their engineer’s fee reimbursed while they are awaiting a decision. [48602/22]

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 www.gov.ie/en/press-release/328d7-minister-obrien-welcomes-progress-on-enhanced-defective-concrete-blocks-grant-scheme/.  

Pending commencement of the Act, applications can continue to be made to local authorities and processed under the current Defective Concrete Block grant scheme, underpinned by the Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks in Construction (Remediation) (Financial Assistance) Regulations, 2020 and the Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks in Construction (Remediation) (Financial Assistance) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

Regulation 5 of the 2022 Regulations waives the requirement for a Stage 1 confirmation of eligibility to be in place prior to recoupment of the cost of the engineer’s fees for homeowners whose applications were received by the local authority before the 24 February, 2022.

Regulation 8 (11) of S.I. 25 of 2020 requires that a homeowner must have received a Stage 1 confirmation of eligibility before the cost of the engineers fees for their I.S. 465 report can be recouped and continues to have effect in respect of applications received by the local authority on or after the 24 February, 2022.

My Department issued guidance to local authorities on 25 February 2022  requesting they make immediate arrangements for the recoupment of engineers fees to homeowners whose applications were received before the 24 February, 2022.