The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 which underpins the enhanced Defective Concrete Block Scheme was commenced in June 2023.
The Scheme is currently open to applications in five counties, namely Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo.
An order for the inclusion of a local authority in the enhanced DCB Grant Scheme may only be made by an Order of the Government.
I recently received Government approval for the designation of parts of the administrative area of Fingal County Council under the scheme. I subsequently arranged for the moving of a motion for a Resolution in each House of the Oireachtas. These Resolutions passed through each House of the Oireachtas and I then requested the Government to make the Order.
Accordingly, the designation process to allow for the inclusion of parts of the administrative area of Fingal County Council has now been finalised.
The detailed operation of the Scheme is a matter for the designated local authorities and the Housing Agency in the first instance. Their respective roles are set out clearly in the 2022 Act.
Local authorities have responsibility for the administration of the Enhanced DCB scheme. This includes the initial validation of applications, notifying homeowners of the Housing Agency's determinations on damage threshold, the appropriate remediation option and grant amount, determination of the grant payable for alternative accommodation and storage costs and immediate repair works and the subsequent payment of grants to successful applicants.
My Department has had regular engagement with local authority teams who operate and administer the scheme.
Further to this end, updated Ministerial Guidelines to facilitate, promote and support a consistent approach to the operation and administration of the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme by designated local authorities are currently being drafted by my Department. Ensuring that the guidance is comprehensive and that the enhanced scheme will work for everyone, is a main priority.
My Department is also currently drafting an updated “Your Questions Answered” document to ensure homeowners have the most up to date information available to them.
Any query a homeowner has relating to an application to the scheme should be addressed to their local authority, Fingal County Council, in this instance, or check their website for any updates: [https://www.fingal.ie/] .
However, as the process to designate the relevant parts of the administrative area of Fingal County Council for entry to the Enhanced DCB Scheme has just been finalised, some initial time to allow the local authority to stand up the administration process may be required and the Department will actively engage with Fingal to ensure that is done as speedily as possible.
