Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2026
565. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the counties currently included in the pyrite remediation scheme; his plans to extend the scheme to further counties, including Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28023/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 which underpins the enhanced Defective Concrete Block Scheme was commenced in June 2023.
The Scheme is currently open to applications in five counties, namely Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo.
When a local authority that is not currently designated under the Scheme determines that homes within their area may have been damaged by defective concrete blocks, they can seek to have the Scheme extended to include any such county or part of that county.
Section 5 of the Act contains details on this process. The statutory designation process can commence upon a request by a local authority or by myself, as Minister, to the Housing Agency. The Agency thereafter carries out technical testing of dwellings. This process is in progress and at varying stages of completion for the following counties (or parts thereof)- Fingal, Wexford, Meath, Carlow, Tipperary, Louth and Leitrim.
After the completion of any testing, the Housing Agency makes a recommendation to the Minister as to whether an order to designate the whole or part of a local authority's area should or should not be made by the Government.
In relation to Tipperary County Council, I understand that in accordance with Section 5(7) of the Act, the Council submitted a request to the Housing Agency on 28 April 2025 for inclusion in the scheme. The Housing Agency appointed a Chartered Engineer from their existing framework panel to assist in their investigations and consultations. The investigations (including concrete block sampling and testing) and consultations, required under the Act, commenced in August 2025.
The assessment of damage and sampling of concrete blocks at a number of dwellings has now been completed by the Housing Agency and final test results are due by the end of July 2026.
As soon as practicable after the completion of these investigations, the Housing Agency will make its report, including a recommendation to myself, as Minister, on this matter.
