Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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396. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason Government bodies have been to Wexford and tested a number of properties for defective concrete, over a year ago, yet test results have not been made available; and when the results will be available to homeowners in Wexford. [28808/25]

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) was commenced on 22 June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023.

The scheme is now open to applications in five counties: Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo with comprehensive information of all aspects of the Scheme available on my Department’s website at the following link: .

When a local authority that is not designated under the Scheme determines through the established mechanisms that homes within their functional area have been damaged by defective concrete blocks, they can seek to have the scheme extended to include any such county or part of such county.

Section 5 of the Act contains details on this process. This statutory designation process can commence upon a request by a local authority or by myself, as Minister, to the Housing Agency. The Agency thereafter carries out technical testing of dwellings in a given local authority administrative area. As soon as practicable after the completion of any testing, the Housing Agency shall make a recommendation to me whether an order to designate the whole or part of a local authority's administrative area should or should not be made by the Government.

I understand that Wexford County Council, in accordance with Section 5(7) of the Act submitted a request to the Housing Agency on 18 September 2023 for inclusion in the scheme. The Housing Agency appointed a Chartered Engineer from their existing framework panel to assist in their investigations and consultations. The investigations (including concrete block sampling and testing) and consultations required under the Act started in December 2023.

Subsequently, the Housing Agency were requested to carry out an assessment of damage and sampling of concrete blocks at an additional dwelling. The Housing Agency expedited these work stages within a short time after being notified by the dwelling owners of their damage concerns and they completed the assessment of damage and sampling of concrete blocks at this second dwelling on 26 September 2024. Concrete block test results for this dwelling were received on the week commencing 19 May 2025 and the Housing Agency contacted the two dwelling owner’s that week to provide both with an update on the concrete block test results.

Once the Housing Agency has completed its investigations and consultations, the Agency will submit their report, including a recommendation, to myself as Minister, on this matter.