Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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905. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department will review the case of a person (details supplied) who is renting elsewhere while reconstruction works are ongoing on their house, covered by the defective concrete blocks grant scheme, to release funding at an earlier stage to assist this person in paying for rent while the works are ongoing. [11716/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) commenced on 22 June 2023 which contains the current grant scheme and the related Regulations were adopted on 29 June 2023.

Local authorities have responsibility for the administration of the 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 2022 Act provides that ancillary grants are available to homeowners for immediate repairs, storage, and alternative accommodation costs. Section 7 of the Ministerial Guidelines for designated Local Authorities and the Housing Agency explains the type of ancillary grants available to applicants and homeowners under the scheme and provides examples of when a homeowner can and cannot apply for such grants. An applicant may apply to the designated local authority for an ancillary grant where the remediation option grant approved under the Scheme is less than the maximum cap provided.

The Spring 2025 Government Legislation Programme has included the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill for priority drafting. In line with the commitment to keep the scheme under review and improve it, the forthcoming bill will address matters such as the application of increased scheme rates and overall cap along with some other technical amendments to ensure the equitable and efficient operation of the grant scheme for homeowners.