Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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1328. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to confirm which body is responsible for providing a full technical review of a defective concrete block grant scheme application; whether responsibility is with the Housing Agency or the relevant local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20667/25]

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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1332. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current position of the technical review of the enhanced defective concrete blocks scheme announced on 6 November 2024; if the scheme will not provide a mechanism to bypass the statutory right to appeal as set out in the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20697/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1328 and 1332 together.

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.

The Appeals Panel has been established to assess appeals made under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete (DCB) Blocks Grant Scheme. The Panel offers those affected by decisions made by the Housing Agency and Local Authorities an opportunity to have their cases assessed by an independent group of industry experts. It should be noted that the Panel is statutorily independent in the performance of their functions of myself as Minister, my Department and of the Housing Agency.

The points of appeal that are available to a DCB applicant include the validation stage by the local authority, the damage threshold determination made by the Housing Agency, the remediation option, and the grant amount approved and where a local authority refuse to make a grant payment pursuant to grant approval.

In November 2024 following the receipt of preliminary results from scientific research in Donegal, my Department announced changes to the way the scheme works for certain homeowners. All homeowners who have been given a non-demolition option (options 2 to 5) have been offered a choice of continuing with the work on their dwelling under the option determined or the option of a full technical review of their application by the Housing Agency. This review will be informed by the current research once the full review of the national standard (I.S. 465:2018) is complete.

As Ireland’s official Standards Body, The National Standards Authority Ireland (NSAI) has been tasked with the review of I.S. 465. On 31 March 2025 the NSAI commenced the public consultation period of the revised draft of I.S. 465. This milestone follows on from the Government Decision of November 2021 and funding by the state into the required research for the NSAI to undertake its work on revising the standard. Upon conclusion of the public consultation period the NSAI will finalise its review and publish the revised standard.

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. Along with details of the wider group of relevant owners that can avail increases in the grant scheme cap and rates approved in October and November 2024 the Bill will also include a number of technical amendments. This will include an amendment to allow the Housing Agency, upon request of an applicant to the designated local authority, to carry out a review of previous remediation option and grant amount determination based on the provisions of the revised standard upon its publication.