Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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307. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of transitional applications that remain to be processed by the Housing Agency arising from the transfer of applications from the original defective concrete blocks grant scheme to the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53666/25]

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.

The 2022 Act sets out the role of the Housing Agency which act as agents on behalf of the local authorities under the terms of the Scheme. Determinations made by the Housing Agency on transitional applications are undertaken in line with transitional provisions provided for under the Act that allows the transfer of applications from the previous scheme to the current scheme.

The Housing Agency has twenty-five transitional applications that remain to be processed. Four transitional applications await a damage threshold determination and twenty-one transitional applications await an appropriate remediation option and grant amount.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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308. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the defective concrete blocks social homes scheme intended to provide remediation for local authority and approved housing body-owned dwellings; if he will clarify when this scheme has been formally implemented in Donegal; the timelines envisaged for its roll-out; the means by which applications will be triaged for remediation works; whether the damage threshold criteria applied under the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme will also apply to these dwellings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53667/25]

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 enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023.

The Act also provides for the Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Social Homes Scheme. This is a scheme for the purpose of enabling a designated local authority or an Approved Housing Body (AHB) with dwellings located in a designated local authority area to remedy damage caused to dwellings, owned by the local authority/AHB, by the use of defective concrete blocks in their construction.

Section 36 of the Act provides that social homes will receive the same remediation options as those covered under the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme for private housing, and the same grant cap, grant rates and damage threshold requirements, along with access to ancillary grants. The manner in which the Scheme will be operationalised in practice by local authorities has been the subject of careful consideration before the Scheme can be finalised. A draft Scheme has now been prepared by my Department and it is my intention to bring proposals to Government shortly so that work can begin on remediating social homes in the affected counties in the near future.