I must now deal with a postponed division relating to State responsibility for foundation retention risk in defective concrete homes. On Tuesday, 23 June 2026, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now.
State Responsibility for Foundation Retention Risk in Defective Concrete Homes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Charles Ward on Wednesday, 24 June 2026:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— thousands of homeowners affected by defective concrete have spent years living with uncertainty regarding the safety of their homes, the adequacy of available remediation options and the long-term security of their families;
— many affected families have experienced repeated changes in engineering advice, evolving scientific understanding and revisions to the redress scheme throughout that period;
— for homeowners undertaking remediation works, decisions regarding whether existing foundations should be retained or replaced are among the most significant and irreversible choices they will make;
—the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme permits the retention of existing foundations in affected dwellings in accordance with the updated National Standards Authority of Ireland I.S. (Irish Standard) 465:2026;
— research underpinning I.S. 465:2026 has identified pyrrhotite and other sulphide minerals in the concrete foundations of affected homes, with evidence of oxidation and early-stage internal sulphate attack in some cases;
— the scientific basis underpinning I.S. 465:2026 remains limited in duration, scale and longitudinal evidence, and does not conclusively establish long-term foundation performance;
— as a result, I.S. 465:2026 operates in circumstances of acknowledged material scientific uncertainty regarding long-term structural durability; and
— affected homeowners are being required to make decisions about retaining or remediating foundations in conditions of that uncertainty, with significant financial, legal and psychological consequences;
recognises that:
— the State is relying on I.S. 465:2026 as the governing technical standard for remediation decisions, despite acknowledged scientific uncertainty in its underpinning evidence;
— where the State adopts a Standard in conditions of uncertainty, it must bear responsibility for managing resulting long-term structural risk and not transfer it to individual homeowners;
— homeowners should not be exposed to future liability or repeated remediation costs arising from limitations in the scientific evidence base underpinning the Standard; and
— in circumstances where failure mechanisms may be latent, progressive and not fully observable within assessment timeframes, policy must err decisively on the side of homeowner protection; and
calls on the Government to:
— commission an independent international review of the scientific basis of I.S. 465:2026, with specific focus on sulphide-related deterioration mechanisms in foundation concrete and their long-term behaviour;
— publish in full the evidential basis, assumptions and uncertainty ranges used to justify foundation retention under I.S. 465:2026;
— amend the operation of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme to ensure that no homeowner is required to retain foundations where there is material engineering uncertainty regarding long-term durability;
— provide an explicit entitlement for homeowners to opt for full foundation replacement where reasonable doubt exists as to future performance;
— ensure that responsibility for residual long-term structural risk arising from application of I.S. 465:2026 remains with the State and not individual homeowners; and
— report to Dáil Éireann within six months on the implementation of these measures and on any revision required to I.S. 465:2026 in light of emerging scientific evidence.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"notes that:
— the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (DCB Scheme), which provides grants to help those affected by defective concrete blocks to remediate their homes, is underpinned by the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (2022 Act);
— over 3,500 homeowners are now at various stages of the DCB Scheme, and will be supported with grants for 100 per cent of eligible expenditure up to a maximum cap of €462,000 per household, and this represents a 10 per cent increase in the maximum cap since the DCB Scheme launched in 2023;
— more than €336 million has been spent on the DCB Scheme to date, with a commitment to more than doubling the level of funding for 2026 to €175 million, and to continue higher investment levels over the entire period of the National Development Plan 2026-2030;
— the DCB Scheme is actively helping homeowners to rebuild their homes, allowing them to move on with their lives;
— over 500 homes have been fully remediated to date, with approximately 750 more currently at various stages of construction;
— additional counties continue to be added to the DCB Scheme, clearly showing the Government's commitment to help all those affected by the legacy defects caused by defective blocks;
— the legislation refers to I.S. (Irish Standard) 465:2018, the Standard which provides for the assessment, testing and categorisation of damaged buildings incorporating concrete blocks containing certain deleterious material, which was published in November 2018, and the 2018 version of the Standard did not require any testing of foundations as there has never been any evidence of damage to foundations, and the DCB Scheme and the underpinning legislation make no provision for such testing;
— in November 2021, as Ireland's official standards body, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) was tasked by the Government with a special review of the concrete Standard, this review started in March 2022, and has been conducted by the TC 63 Concrete Blocks Committee of the NSAI, membership of this Committee included representatives of the concrete industry, Engineers Ireland, the Geological Survey Ireland, homeowner action groups, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Housing Agency; and
— a new revised Standard, I.S. 465:2026, was recently published by the NSAI on 2nd June, 2026, and the revised Standard is based on new research in the area, it entails quite significant changes from the previous Standard in that, under the new Standard, almost all houses with defective concrete blocks would be demolished, and furthermore, the Standard provides for the testing of the foundations of each house in case they may be found to be affected at some point in the future, notwithstanding that there are no current cases of damage to foundations; and
agrees that:
— aspects of the changes entailed by the new Standard require detailed consideration in terms of the DCB Scheme, and could entail significant financial implications for the State if adopted under the DCB Scheme;
— the 2022 Act requires that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage shall, on the publication of the revised Standard, undertake a review of the legislation, the Act also requires that, not later than three months after the completion of the review, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage shall make a report to each House of the Oireachtas of their findings and conclusions resulting from the review, and it is intended that this formal review of the DCB Scheme will be initiated by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage shortly;
— existing DCB Scheme participants who have already received their determination under I.S. 465:2018 will have the choice to continue with their works;
— the review will focus, as per the provisions of Section 51 of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, on the operation of the Act in the first instance, with all matters relating to the introduction of I.S. 465:2026 and its interaction with the DCB Scheme being considered as part of the review, and this will include the matter of foundations; and
— the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will consider all implications of the new I.S. 465:2026, and make recommendations to the Government on any proposed changes to the DCB Scheme as soon as possible.".
- (Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 79; Níl, 68; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lahart, John.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Connell, Maeve.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
Níl
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ennis, Daniel.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Graves, Ann.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Charles.
- Ward, Mark.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and John Clendennen; Níl, Deputies Charles Ward and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
Amendment declared carried.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to"
The Dáil divided: Tá, 79; Níl, 68; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lahart, John.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Connell, Maeve.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
Níl
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ennis, Daniel.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Graves, Ann.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Charles.
- Ward, Mark.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and John Clendennen; Níl, Deputies Charles Ward and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
Question declared carried.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 9.47 p.m. go dtí 8.47 a.m., Déardaoin, an 25 Meitheamh 2026.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.47 p.m. until 8.47 a.m. on Thursday, 25 June 2026.