Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 November 2023
53. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to seek advice for a person (details supplied) in respect of the very concerning condition of their home; if he will outline what schemes or processes are available in such a circumstance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48910/23]
View answerI commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) on 22 June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023. The new scheme is now open to applications in four counties: Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo with comprehensive information of all aspects of the Scheme available on my Department’s website at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/service/8002e-enhanced-defective-concrete-blocks-grant-scheme/.
Section 5 of the Act contains details on the process for the inclusion of additional local authority areas into the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant Scheme. This statutory designation process can commence upon a request by a local authority or by myself, as Minister to the Housing Agency, and whereby the Agency thereafter carries out technical testing of dwellings in a given local authority administrative area. As soon as practicable after the completion of any testing, the Housing Agency shall make a recommendation to me whether an order to designate the whole or part of a local authority's administrative area should or should not be made by the Government.
The Housing Agency act as technical agents on behalf of the local authorities under the Enhanced Grant Scheme. Applications received by a local authority will be referred to the Housing Agency to review the 'Building Condition Assessment Report' and determine if the home has met the 'damage threshold' for entry to the scheme.
