Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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156. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will introduce urgent amendments to the remediation of dwellings damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 following his announcement of the details of the scheme to assist homeowners of defective apartments, to ensure that all victims of the failure of State regulation and oversight are treated the same and have access to the same State support and redress. [3720/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the current grant scheme, as agreed by Government on 30 November 2021.

The current and enhanced defective concrete block (DCB) grant schemesare not compensation or redress schemes. They are remediation grant schemes of last resort, put in place by the Government in order to voluntarily assist homeowners to remediate damage caused by the use of defective concrete blocks.

The 2022 Act will be commenced once the related Regulations have been finalised. Draft Regulations have been prepared, which will be the subject of consultation with key stakeholders before the Regulation are finalised and adopted in early 2023. It is intended that the consultation with key stakeholders, which will be conducted by the appointed Homeowners’ Liaison Officer, will commence before the end January 2023.

With respect to defective apartments, I received Government approval on 18 January 2023 to draft legislation to support the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. This legislation will provide a statutory basis for the establishment of a remediation scheme aimed at protecting the safety and welfare of those living in apartments or duplexes. It is intended that only works relating to defects that are attributable to defective design, defective or faulty workmanship or defective materials (or any combination of these) and were in contravention of the Building Regulations applicable at the time of construction will be eligible for inclusion in the scheme.

Government has approved the principle of allowing remediation costs already incurred or levied to be covered under the remediation scheme once such costs fall within the scope and defined parameters of said scheme.

Work is now underway to draft the required legislation which will include the scope, eligibility and conditions of the defective apartments remediation scheme, which will become operational following implementation of the required legislation. The legislative approach proposed for remediating defects in apartments may also be applicable to apartment buildings affected by defective concrete blocks and this will be considered further in tandem with the development of that legislation.