Written answers
Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Defective Building Materials
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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459. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to extend the eligibility to avail of the defective concrete blocks grant scheme to homeowners who purchased their primary home in late 2020 and past the current cut-off point of January 2020. [56568/25]
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 Act defines a relevant owner as an individual who owns, whether jointly or not, a relevant dwelling and:
- became an owner of the dwelling prior to 31 January 2020,
- inherited the dwelling on or after 31 January 2020, or
- subject to Section 9(4) of the Act, purchased the dwelling on or after 31 January 2020.
Individuals who acquire a dwelling on or after 31 January 2020 will generally not be eligible for a grant. However, in certain limited circumstances, as an exception to the general rule, a relevant local authority may consider an application from an individual applying in good faith, on the honest belief that they either did not know, or could not have known that defective concrete blocks were used in the construction of the dwelling.
I currently have no plans to amend these conditions as set down by the Oireachtas.
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