Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
318. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of and reason for the delay in a decision being made in relation to his statement at the end of August 2021 during a visit to County Clare, that the decision to include County Clare homeowners in the national redress scheme would be made within a number of weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48247/21]
View answer319. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the grounds on which the delay on the inclusion of homeowners in County Clare is based given in the findings of the working group’s report homeowners in the county are not represented on the working group and their consideration into the redress scheme is wholly unrelated to the established working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48248/21]
View answer320. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason direction has not been given to Clare County Council to accept further submissions and or testing which is not being carried out at present. [48249/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 318 to 320, inclusive, together.
My Department received correspondence from Clare County Council in October 2020, requesting the extension of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme to County Clare. A comprehensive reply was subsequently issued to the Council in November 2020.
My Department informed the Council that before any extension of the scheme can be considered, the same rigorous analysis as that put in place prior to the roll out of the scheme to the counties of Donegal and Mayo would have to be undertaken. Following further discussions between my Department and Clare County Council it was agreed that the local authority would take a lead role in determining, in accordance with the IS: 465 protocol, that issues arising in homes in County Clare are in fact due to the presence of excessive amounts of deleterious materials (mica or pyrite) in the aggregate used to manufacture the concrete blocks and secondly quantify the likely extent of the problem in the county.
Subsequently a report was finalised and submitted by Clare CoCo at the end of July 2021 and is being reviewed with a response to issue imminently. Any extension of the scheme would also have to be part of wider discussions particularly with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of the Attorney General.
As Donegal and Mayo are currently the only local authority areas within the scope of the Defective Concrete Blocks grant scheme only applications from those local authority areas can be processed.
In respect of the existing scheme, I established a time-bound working group, with representatives from my Department, the local authorities and homeowner representative groups, to review and address any outstanding issues in relation to the operation of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. As part of this review an extension of the scheme to other local authority areas was also discussed.
A final output report arising from the engagement of the working group has been prepared which includes the final homeowner’s position paper. I will now consider proposals which I will present to Cabinet following consultation with Ministerial colleagues.
