Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2026
397. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will request an update from the DCB Appeals Panel to provide the number of appeals made to 31 January 2026; the numbers of decisions made; the average waiting time for those decisions, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13476/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) was commenced on 22 June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023.
An Appeals Panel has been established to assess appeals made under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete (DCB) Blocks Grant Scheme.
The points of appeal that are available to a DCB applicant include the validation stage by the local authority, the damage threshold determination made by the Housing Agency, the remediation option, and the grant amount approved and where a local authority refuses to make a grant payment pursuant to grant approval.
At the time of writing 174 appeals have been received from homeowners. A breakdown showing the number of appeals received from relevant owners, by designated local authority, is available in the table below:
|
Designated Local Authority |
Appeals Received |
|
Donegal |
145 |
|
Mayo |
6 |
|
Clare |
12 |
|
Limerick |
11 |
|
Sligo |
0 |
|
Total |
174 |
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. Timelines for the processing of appeals would be a matter for the Chair and the Panel.
However, I understand that the Panel is in the process of assessing appeals and that decisions have been issuing to appellants.
