Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 305 and 306 together.

As you are aware I commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) on 22 June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023. The new scheme is now open to applications in four counties: Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo.

The intention was always to concentrate on getting this scheme up and running before turning our attention to a Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Social Homes Scheme.

Section 36 of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) provides that the Government may make a further Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) scheme for the purposes of enabling a designated local authority or an approved housing body to remedy damage caused to dwellings by the use of defective concrete blocks in their construction.

The DCB social homes scheme will include the same grant rates and caps as outlined in the private scheme for homeowners and will apply to local authority and approved housing body homes located within designated LA areas. It will encourage efficiencies and the best use of limited resources available to undertake remediation works.

Senior officials from my Department recently travelled to Donegal County Council and discussed these proposals further with very positive engagement. On site meetings with the other designated local authorities are scheduled to take place in the next few weeks. I expect to be in a position to provide full details of this scheme shortly thereafter.