Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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389. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when the increased 10% to the maximum grant for the defective concrete block and the increased 'per square metre' rates, which were legislated for in late 2024 and applied retrospectively, will be signed into legislation to allow local authorities to pay the moneys to affected homeowners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50309/25]

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 and contains the grant scheme and the related Regulations, which were adopted on 29 June 2023.

A review mechanism is provided within the Act, which provides for an increase or decrease in the overall grant scheme cap a year after the Act has been commenced by no more than 10%, in accordance with the conditions of Section 11 of the Act.

Last October, the Government increased the amount a homeowner can receive under the scheme by 10% from €420,000 to €462,000. Similarly, the per square metre rates that are used to calculate the grant amount were also increased in November 2024 by between 7.4% and 8.7%.

The Act provides that any increase in the scheme cap or grant rates will apply to eligible relevant owners that are yet to receive a determination in respect of remediation option and grant amount.

My Department sought legal advice that confirmed that extending these increases to a wider group of relevant owners requires amending the Act.

Government approval was granted for the priority drafting of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill which will contain details of the wider group of relevant owners that can avail of increases in the grant scheme cap and rates approved in October and November 2024 along with a number of technical amendments. This legislation is being progressed as expeditiously as possible and the Bill is included in the Autumn 2025 Government Legislation Programme for Priority Publication.

However, it should be noted that amending the Act is ultimately a matter for the Oireachtas.