Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 February 2026
730. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the inclusion of Dublin Fingal within the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme; the engagement that has taken place between his Department and Fingal County Council in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10375/26]
View answer731. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if Dublin Fingal will be included in the Pyrite Remediation Scheme; when a decision is expected; if he will outline the steps being taken to support homeowners in Fingal affected by pyrite in the interim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10376/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 730 and 731 together.
The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 which underpins the enhanced Defective Concrete Block (DCB) Scheme was commenced in June 2023.
The Scheme is currently open to applications in five counties, namely Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo.
When a local authority that is not currently designated under the Scheme determines that homes within their area may have been damaged by defective concrete blocks, they can seek to have the Scheme extended to include any such county or part of that county.
Section 5 of the Act contains details on this process. The statutory designation process can commence upon a request by a local authority or by myself, as Minister, to the Housing Agency. The Agency thereafter carries out technical testing of dwellings.
After the completion of any testing, the Housing Agency makes a recommendation to the Minister as to whether an order to designate the whole or part of a local authority's area should or should not be made by the Government.
I understand that Fingal County Council, in accordance with the Act, submitted a request to the Housing Agency for inclusion in the Scheme and this request related to a small number of properties in their area. The Housing Agency appointed a Chartered Engineer from their panel to assist in their investigations. The investigations included concrete block testing, as required under the Act.
Subsequently, the Housing Agency received the test results from the properties sampled in Fingal and I received the final report from the Housing Agency in 2025. On the basis of the recommendations made by the Agency I intend to shortly bring the matter to Government seeking approval for the making of an Order designating the relevant parts of Fingal County Council as being part of the DCB Scheme.
The Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme relates to dwellings which are damaged due to the use of defective concrete blocks containing excessive amounts of mica or pyrite or such other deleterious materials or combination of deleterious materials.
The separate Pyrite Remediation Scheme (PRS) relates to dwellings that have been significantly damaged as a result of pyritic heave caused by the swelling of hardcore under ground floor slabs. It aims to repair certain homes affected by significant pyritic damage where the homeowners have no other practicable option.
The PRS has been operational within the administrative area of Fingal County Council since 2014.
