Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has received a copy of the draft report referred to. I will give consideration to the recommendations contained in the final report when it is received.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act), which contains the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme commenced on 22 June 2023 and the related Regulations were adopted on 29 June 2023.

The Enhanced Grant Scheme provided for the extension of the scheme to include dwellings damaged due to the use of defective concrete blocks in its construction, in the administrative areas of Clare County Council and Limerick City and County Council.

The 2022 Act sets out the roles of both local authorities and the Housing Agency.

Local authorities have responsibility for the administration of the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme. This includes the initial validation of applications, notifying homeowners of the Housing Agency's determinations on damage threshold, the appropriate remediation option and grant amount, determination of the grant payable for alternative accommodation and storage costs and immediate repair works and the subsequent payment of grants to successful applicants.

The Housing Agency act as technical agents on behalf of the local authorities under the Enhanced Grant Scheme. Applications received by a local authority are referred to the Housing Agency to review the 'Building Condition Assessment Report' and determine if the home has met the 'damage threshold' for entry to the scheme. Once a home has met the damage threshold for entry to the scheme, the Housing Agency engage its Framework Chartered Engineers to undertake the assessment, survey, sampling, testing and categorisation of the dwelling thereafter on a priority basis in accordance with the national standard I.S. 465:2018 and thereafter determine the appropriate remediation option and grant amount.

In order to comply with the 2022 Act certain steps and procedures must be adhered to and I am assured that both Clare County Council and the Housing Agency are progressing applications to the scheme efficiently. If there are any specific cases queries should be addressed in the first instance to Clare County Council as administrators of the scheme.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 270 together.

The design and construction of buildings is regulated under the Building Control Acts 1990-2020. The Acts provide for the making of Building Regulations, Building Control Regulations and designates local authorities as building control authorities. The 31 local building control authorities have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the Building Control Acts and are independent in the use of their statutory powers.

The National Building Control & Market Surveillance Office (NBCMSO) provides centralised oversight, support and direction for the development, standardisation and implementation of Building Control, across the 31 local authorities, as an effective shared service through the five pillars of training, inspections, compliance support, IT enabler - Building Control Management System (BCMS) and Market Surveillance.

The NBCMSO is under the remit of Dublin City Council (DCC) as the Lead Authority, and its staff are direct employees of DCC. Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which they are responsible.

My Department works closely the County and City Management Association (CCMA) and Dublin City Council to ensure that the NBCMSO is properly positioned and supported to provide an optimal shared service to the local authorities. In this context, a new governance structure has been established within County and City Management Association (CCMA) to provide a formal mechanism for reviewing the delivery of Building Control and Market Surveillance functions in local authorities. This includes the establishment of a National Steering Group, which met for the first time this month. The National Steering Group, of which my Department is a member, will be responsible for the agreement of the work programme, ensuring the availability of adequate resources and funding, and monitoring/reporting on progress and budgets etc.  

Separately, the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant Scheme, as legislated for by the Oireachtas, is now up and running and will see significant investment by the State in addressing defects in houses in affected counties.