Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2024
421. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the engagement between his Department officials and an organisation (details supplied) to establish further financial supports, zero-interest loans, and upfront payments to homeowners availing of the enhanced defective concrete block grant scheme. [36938/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 ('the 2022 Act') on 22 June 2023, which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023.
I set up an Implementation Steering Group for the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant scheme, comprising officials from the relevant local authorities, my Department, the Housing Agency, and the Homeowner's Liaison Officer. This Group meets every 4-6 weeks and keeps the operation of the DCB Scheme under continuous review. The most recent engagement took place on 12 September 2024.
A possible issue whereby certain DCB homeowners might be having difficulties to access finance to begin works on their home - prior to receiving their grant payments - was brought to my Department’s attention late last year. The BPFI put forward an interim funding proposal which they believed could assist homeowners facing this type of funding challenge. It was effectively a low or zero interest rate loan product jointly administered by the banks and local authorities but 100% guaranteed by the State. Given the nature of the proposal (i.e. the request for a Sovereign Guarantee from the Government, and the requirement that Local Authorities refund the bank the full amount of the loan from a home owner’s approved grant payment before the grant is paid to the home owner), my Department has since had a number of discussions with both the BPFI and the Department of Finance on this matter.
The complex nature of the proposed loan product raises potential State Aid issues and would also require primary legislation to implement. The establishment of a proposed joint administrative infrastructure between the various banks and local authorities would also needs detailed consideration and would likely take some time to put in place.
In order to try to progress the proposal and to assist more generally with financial issues facing homeowners, my Department established a subgroup of the Implementation Group. Meetings were held in January and April this year with all key stakeholders present including representatives from Engineers Ireland, Insurance Ireland, the Department of Finance, local authorities and Homeowner Action Groups. The BPFI also attended these meetings and were active contributors to the discussions held.
Further engagement has since taken place between my officials and the BPFI to discuss financial issues affecting homeowners in July and most recently on 16 September. These meetings were informative and productive and my Department has asked the BPFI at that meeting to bring forward revised proposals with a view to removing some complexity from the proposed scheme, most notably the requirement for a Sovereign Guarantee. A further meeting is planned in the coming weeks.
Separately, working with the subgroup, my Department made changes to the DCB Scheme’s administration to allow the earlier release of funds to homeowners so as to address the specific concerns that homeowners expressed at the sub-group meetings with regard to the facility to draw down an earlier grant payment in respect of professional fees so that they can be paid by homeowners. These changes were notified to local authorities on 24 May 2024 and are now operational.
