Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-10
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Christopher O'Sullivan (FF), Cork South-West

I move amendment No. 20:
In page 7, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:
“Damage threshold for attached dwellings
7. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 15:
“15A. (1) Where a determination is made under section 15(1)(b) that a relevant dwelling does not meet the damage threshold, the relevant owner may make a notification under subsection (2) where—
(a) the relevant dwelling is—
(i) terraced or semi-detached, and
(ii) connected to another relevant dwelling,
(in this section the first-mentioned relevant dwelling is referred to as an ‘attached dwelling’), and
(b) the Housing Agency has approved a remediation option and remediation option grant under section 16(4)(a) in relation to the relevant dwelling referred to in paragraph (a)(ii).
(2) The relevant owner referred to in subsection (1) may notify the designated local authority that he or she is seeking a determination under section 15(1)(a) that the attached dwelling meets the damage threshold.
(3) A notification under subsection (2) shall—
(a) be made in such form and manner as may be prescribed, and
(b) be accompanied by—
(i) such evidence as may be prescribed of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1), and
(ii) such other documents or information as may be prescribed for the purposes of the notification.
(4) The designated local authority shall, having regard to any matters prescribed under subsection (8), consider the notification under subsection (2) and decide—
(a) where it is satisfied that the notification is made in accordance with subsection (3), that the Housing Agency shall be deemed to have made a determination under section 15(1)(a) that the attached dwelling meets the damage threshold, or
(b) where it is not satisfied that the notification is made in accordance with subsection (3), that the determination of the Housing Agency under section 15(1)(b) in relation to the attached dwelling remains valid.
(5) The designated local authority shall, as soon as practicable, notify the relevant owner of the attached dwelling and the Housing Agency of its decision under subsection (4).
(6) Where a decision is made under subsection (4)(b), a notification under subsection (5) shall state that the relevant owner of the attached dwelling may appeal the decision in accordance with Part 5 within 90 days of the date of the notification.
(7) Where a decision is made under subsection (4)(a), the Housing Agency shall, notwithstanding the criteria prescribed under section 16(10)(c), in so far as is possible, prioritise the assessment and consideration of the application under section 16.
(8) The Minister may prescribe the matters to which a designated local authority is to have regard in considering the notification under subsection (2).
(9) In this section, ‘damage threshold’ has the meaning given to it by section 15.”.”.
I will now speak to amendment No. 20. Amendment No. 20 proposes the insertion of a new section 15A into the principal Act. This new section relates to the conditions certain conjoined dwellings such as semi-detached homes, terraced houses, etc., must meet in order to be eligible for the DCB grant scheme. It provides that where a relevant dwelling has not met the damage threshold for entry to the scheme and is attached to another relevant dwelling that has received a grant determination under the principal Act, the relevant owner of the dwelling that has not met the damage threshold can notify their designated local authority they are seeking a determination that their dwelling is deemed to meet the damage threshold. In effect, it allows them to bypass the damage threshold stage but they are still bound by all other parts of the eligibility assessment process. Where the designated local authority is satisfied, it will notify the Housing Agency of its decision and the Housing Agency will arrange for the assessment and consideration of the application and determine the appropriate grant option and amount for the dwelling. Although the principal Act does not include homeowners who wish to carry out works at the same time to the attached dwelling from doing so, it provides that each dwelling must have met the damage threshold before the application can be passed to the Housing Agency for grant determination. This can result in a delay for the relevant owners of the attached dwellings. This amendment will provide much-needed flexibility and assistance to homeowners of attached dwellings.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:27+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-10