I propose to take Questions Nos. 723 and 724 together.
The Housing Agency has confirmed to my Department that they are unaware of the guidance the referred to and clarified its automated response from their dedicated Defective Concrete Blocks email in relation to this subject area is as per below:
If your query relates to a technical review of a non-demolition option (option 2-5) determination by the local authority or the Housing Agency:
The commencement of a technical review of a non-demolition (option 2-5)
determination
by the local authority or the Housing Agency is subject to the publication of the revised Irish Standard 465:2018 assessment, testing and categorisation of damaged buildings incorporating concrete blocks containing certain deleterious materials by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI)
and
a legislative amendment to be carried out by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 was initiated in Dáil Eireann on 2 December 2025, passed both Houses of the Oireachtas and was subsequently signed into law by the President, thereby becoming an Act, on the 23 December 2025.
As set down in the 2025 Act, the technical review process offers certain homeowners who have been given a non-demolition option (options 2 to 5) the mechanism to apply for a review of their remediation option. A relevant owner may make an application where the works necessary to carry out the approved remediation option have not commenced, or no works have been carried out to satisfy the approved remediation option since 6 November 2024, and a certificate of remediation has not been completed.
This review will be informed by the current research once the full review of the national standard (I.S. 465:2018) is complete. This process provides for a review of a previous remediation option and grant amount determination and the issue of a new determination if required.
