Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 April 2024
10. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the issue of future mortgage ability affecting homeowners affected by defective concrete blocks who avail of the DCB scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15705/24]
View answer11. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has asked the SCSI to provide updated cost reports for the Expert Group to review in relation to the DCB scheme and when the recommended updated grant rates are expected to be presented to him and implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15757/24]
View answer19. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will amend the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme to ensure that it provides the same 100% redress that was made available to the 3,000 families who have had their homes remediated under the pyrite remediation scheme, in view of the attendance of over 1,000 homeowners at a public meeting in Buncrana, County Donegal on 26 March 2024, in support of genuine 100% redress for the victims of the defective concrete block scandal. [15023/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 11 and 19 together.
As the Deputies are aware, I commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) on the 22nd of June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on the 29th of June 2023.
I received confirmation from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) on the 14th of March this year, that the industry position regarding mortgageability of remediated houses under the Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant Scheme is that once a certification of remediation is supplied, as part of the Scheme, then the house will be treated in the same manner by them as any other home.
The DCB Scheme is neither a redress nor a compensation scheme, rather it is a grant scheme of last resort to enable affected homeowners remediate their homes. The approach taken under the Pyrite Remediation Scheme (PRS) was considered in the development of the DCB Grant Scheme. However, due to the different scale of both schemes and the flexibility sought by DCB homeowners the DCB Grant scheme required a different approach.
The Pyrite Remediation Scheme relates to dwellings that have been significantly damaged as a result of pyritic heave caused by the swelling of hardcore under ground floor slabs. In contrast, the DCB Grant Scheme relates to dwellings which are damaged due to the use of defective concrete blocks. There is only one remediation option under the Pyrite Scheme and the works are repetitive from home to home, which tend to be clustered. Under the DCB scheme there are five potential remediation options with a bespoke solution potentially required for each affected home.
A review mechanism is provided within the Act which now allows me, as Minister, to increase the overall grant scheme cap of €420,000 a year after the Act has been commenced by no more than 10%, in accordance with the conditions of Section 11 of the Act. The Act also provides for a three-year review of the operation of the Act which the Act itself mandates.
The 2023 rebuild rates for the North West region (Donegal/Mayo) and for the Mid-West region (Clare/Limerick) have been prescribed in the regulations following receipt of construction cost figures updated by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI), and consideration and review by an Expert Group.
Following a request from my Department, the SCSI recently provided updated cost reports for the North West and Midwest Regions to my Department. My Department received these updated cost reports on the 29th of March and they will be provided to the Expert Group shortly to review and make recommendations to me to operationalise the SCSI report figures.
