Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1206. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of appeals submitted to the defective concrete blocks appeals panel in relation to the downgrading of reports by independent chartered engineers, and the status of those appeals validated, invalidated, under review, determined and the grounds for any invalidation. [45898/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1207. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the statutory or administrative timeframe within which the defective concrete blocks grant scheme appeals panel is required to issue determinations on appeals submitted. [45899/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1208. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will outline the oversight, accountability, and resourcing arrangements in place for the appeals panel under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme; and the steps being taken to ensure timely determinations. [45900/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1209. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if any legal advice has been sought or received by his Department or the defective concrete blocks scheme appeals panel on how to handle conflicting chartered engineers’ opinions in relation to remediation options. [45901/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1206, 1207, 1208 and 1209 together.

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 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. 

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. 

It should be noted that the Appeals Panel is statutorily independent in the performance of their functions of myself as Minister, my Department and of the Housing Agency.

A total of 132 appeals have been submitted to the Appeals Panel in relation to the downgrading of reports by independent chartered engineers. Each of these appeals is a matter for the Chair of the Panel.

Timelines for the processing of appeals are a matter for the Chair and the Panel. My Department provides limited administrative support during the initial stage of the process, in that appeals submitted by homeowners are forwarded to the Panel. 

Oversight and accountability of the Appeals Panel is outlined in Part 5 of The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022.

Legal advice for matters relevant to the operation of the Appeals process is, given the statutory position I outlined, a matter for the Chair of the Panel.

I understand that the Panel is assessing appeals and the Chair of the Appeals Panel is issuing notifications to appellants.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1210. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the Department accepts the position of an organisation (details supplied) that “given the research on a review of I.S. 465 has not yet been completed, that where a discrepancy exists between the recommendation of a member of the I.S. 465 Register and the Housing Agency, that the higher option of the two should be preferred, to provide greater assurance to homeowners and building professionals working on the remediation.”. [45902/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1211. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will confirm whether the original reports of independent chartered engineers, certified as compliant with IS 465 and costing the affected homeowners approximately €7,000 each, are given full weight in determining the appropriate remediation option under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme. [45903/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1210 and 1211 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. 

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.   

The National Standards Authority Ireland (NSAI) has been tasked with the review of the technical standard- I.S. 465:2018- that underpins the DCB Grant Scheme. The public consultation period finished on 11 July 2025 and the NSAI will finalise its review and publish the revised standard.  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.  As Minister, I am obliged to commence a review of the operation of the Act within three months of the completion of any review of I.S. 465:2018 by the NSAI.  A report to each House of the Oireachtas of the findings and conclusions resulting from that review is required not later than three months after the completion of the review.

As the previous DCB scheme has now closed, transitional arrangements are in place for  applications moving from the previous scheme to the current scheme. The determination of the remediation grant option and amount will be assessed by the Housing Agency under the provisions of the current scheme subject to various transitional provisions which may allow the previous scheme engineering reports to be considered by the Housing Agency under the current scheme.