Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 June 2026
193. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will request a report from the Defective Concrete Block Appeals panel on the number of appeals underway; the number of decisions made by the panel in the past 12-months; the average length of time take for such decisions; if he will request a quarterly report from the panel with such information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48243/26]
View answerThe Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 as amended by the Act of 2025 underpins the Grant Scheme which provides grant funding to people whose homes have been affected by Defective Concrete Blocks.
An Appeals Panel has been established to assess appeals made under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme.
At the time of writing 189 appeals have been submitted to the Appeals Panel.
Of the 189 received by the Panel, 13 have been withdrawn by appellants at various stages of the process. However, I am informed that the Appeals Panel have reached a decision on 63 appeals, with 113 currently at various stages of review with the Panel.
It should be noted that the Appeals Panel is statutorily independent in the performance of their functions of myself as Minister, my Department and of the Housing Agency. My Department provides limited administrative support during the initial stage of the process, in that appeals submitted by homeowners are forwarded to the Panel. Matters pertaining to the operation of the Panel, including the timelines for the processing of appeals and determinations, would be a matter for the Chair and the Panel.
The NSAI published a revised standard, I.S. 465:2026, on 2 June 2026 and I now intend to launch a review of the operation of the Act as quickly as possible. The Act mandates that not later than 3 months after completion of this review that I, as Minister, shall make a report to each House of the Oireachtas of my findings and conclusions resulting from that review.
Matters relating to the reporting of the Panel can be considered as part of the review.
