Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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282. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update as to when the enhanced defective concrete block redress scheme will go live; if applicants approved for the current 90/10 scheme will be guaranteed acceptance on to this scheme without going through a review and approval process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14766/23]

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 (DCB) 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 the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 ('the 2022 Act') , as agreed by Government on 30 November 2021, is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the current grant scheme.

The 2022 Act which contains the enhanced grant scheme will be commenced as soon as related Regulations are completed, which Regulations provide details for the enhanced scheme not included in the 2022 Act such as application forms and templates, per square metre grant rates and the definition of damage. Draft Regulations have been prepared, which are the subject of ongoing consultation with key stakeholders, including with homeowners’ action groups, which consultation must be concluded before the Regulations will be finalised and adopted in early 2023. I extended the consultation period on the draft Regulations, which commenced in February 2023, by an additional two weeks, to 14 March 2023, following receipt of requests for time extensions from Donegal County Council and Mayo County Council. The submissions received are now being reviewed and when that review is completed I will engage further with the homeowners' action groups before finalising the Regulations.

Grant rates, to be included in the final Regulations, will be based upon updated regional construction costs for 2023 provided by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI). The Expert Group on defective concrete blocks will make recommendations to operationalise the SCSI report figures for 2023 before they are incorporated into the Regulations.

The 2022 Act provides for transitional arrangements from the current to the Enhanced Grant Scheme. In respect of applicants who have received a confirmation of eligibility from the relevant local authority under the current scheme (stage 1 approval) and grant approval (stage 2), the designated local authority shall recalculate the grant rates provided for in the enhanced scheme and ensure that any amendment to the grant rates is notified to the homeowner and that the homeowner may then submit a remedial works plan to the designated local authority in line with the enhanced scheme. There may be instances where the remediation grant approval under the enhanced scheme is less than the grant rate approved under the current scheme, however the 2022 Act provides that the enhanced grant rate will not be amended if it was lower than the original/current grant rate.

A homeowner will now also be eligible to apply for ancillary grants for alternative accommodation and storage in accordance with Section 10(2) of the 2022 Act.

My Department recently published an updated “Your Questions Answered”document on the Department’s website to ensure homeowners have the most up to date information available to them which can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/775c0-defective-concrete-blocks-grant-scheme-your-questions-answered/.