Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (Designation of Fingal and Wexford County Councils) (Parts of Administrative Areas) Order 2026: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-28
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James Browne (FF), Wexford

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senators. I welcome the opportunity today to outline for the House the motion to designate parts of the administrative areas of Fingal and Wexford County Councils under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022. During my time as Minister, I have had the opportunity to meet many people affected by defective concrete blocks. I have listened to their concerns directly, as well as the issues raised by local representatives and advocacy groups on this matter, as well as many in this Chamber.
I am aware that while the nexus of the defective concrete blocks issue is concentrated in the north west, it does, unfortunately, affect a small number of homeowners in other parts of Ireland. Wherever it does, the Government stands ready to offer financial assistance to help people fix their homes and move on with their lives. It is for that reason that I am before Senators in the House to put forward the motion, which will extend the hand of assistance under the defective concrete blocks schemes to parts of two more local authorities, those of Fingal and Wexford. The number of homes affected in both administrative areas is, thankfully, relatively low. While mindful of the cost involved and our responsibility to ensure taxpayer funding is appropriately spent, the Government remains committed to flexibility and fairness when it comes to dealing with the situation faced by those affected by defective concrete blocks.
Section 5 of the 2022 defective concrete block Act provides a mechanism whereby additional local authorities that believe homes in their functional area have been damaged by defective concrete blocks can request inclusion in the scheme via the established mechanisms. This statutory designation process can commence following a request by a local authority or by me as the Minister to the Housing Agency. The Housing Agency then conducts technical testing of dwellings in each local authority administrative area.
As soon as practicable after the completion of any testing, the Housing Agency makes a recommendation to me as Minister on whether an order to designate the whole or part of a local authority's administrative area should be made by the Government. Both Fingal and Wexford county councils, together with the Housing Agency, have now completed this process. The Housing Agency provided me with detailed reports and laboratory test results confirming the Housing Agency's recommendation to me that an order be made under section 5(9) of the Act, designating a part of the administrative areas of Fingal County Council and Wexford County Council as being covered by the defective concrete block, DCB, scheme. The areas covered in Fingal are Ballyboughal, Lusk, Rush and Skerries. This totals 39 dwellings, while the areas covered in Wexford cover Bunclody and Enniscorthy, with one dwelling in each location.
Damage to dwellings within the administrative areas of both Fingal and Wexford county councils confirms there are dwellings exhibiting the typical defects as identified under the standard that underpins the DCB scheme, IS 465. Some of the typical defects encountered include disintegrated blocks and pattern-like cracking. The damage is evident at dwellings at various locations across the local authority areas.
Looking briefly to the past, Senators will recall that the first defective concrete block grants scheme, often referred to as the 90:10 scheme, came into effect in January 2020 and includes counties Donegal and Mayo. Building on the work of that scheme, the Government approved a Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022 on 21 June 2022. The Bill passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas and was subsequently signed into law by the President on 23 July 2022. This current scheme included an unprecedented suite of improvements. The scheme still represents what I understand to be the largest State intervention in addressing defective buildings anywhere in the world. The scheme's estimated cost is approximately €2.2 billion excluding inflation.
A number of changes were introduced by the original legislation, which included a Government guarantee in regard to remediation works, other than full demolition and rebuild, through eligibility, if required, for a second grant for a period of 40 years; provision of alternative accommodation costs, storage costs and costs for immediate repairs; a key role for the Housing Agency; the extension of the scheme to Clare and Limerick; the introduction of an appeals panel; and increased scheme caps and grant rates.
In 2024, the grant scheme cap was increased again by the maximum permitted, 10%, to €462,000, along with an increase in the scheme grant rates. Sligo County Council also became the fifth area to be designated under the scheme in 2024. I now propose to add parts of the administrative areas of Fingal and Wexford local authorities under the scheme. The designation brought forward today aims to further improve access to the grant scheme for impacted homeowners in these areas and I believe the designation will go a long way to address the needs raised by the homeowners in their correspondence with my Department.
The draft motion today follows on from the recent DCB amendment Act 2025, which was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas in December last. Senators will recall some of the main provisions of the Act, which will also assist homeowners in the newly designated areas. The Act widened the group of relevant owners that can avail of the recent increases in the grant scheme caps and rates. It also extended the time within which homeowners can complete the works to their homes. These necessary changes were as a direct result of the continuous engagement by my Department and the local authority sector with homeowners. It illustrates our commitment to continuous engagement and improvement when it comes to this significant scheme.
The memo for Government on the general scheme for DCB in June 2022 noted the cost estimate for the scheme as €2.2 billion, excluding inflation. Provision was made within the cost estimate for the homes thought to be impacted and eligible for the grant assistance within the counties of Donegal and Mayo, and the likely number of impacted homes if the scheme were to be extended to the counties of Clare, Limerick, Sligo and Tipperary. Given the possibility that the spread of impacted homes could be wider than these six counties, and to be prudent, an additional 1,100 homes are included in the overall 7,500 estimate of the number of homes expected to be eligible for the grant assistance, which informed the estimate. My Department keeps all aspects of the scheme under continuous review and I am conscious that since the estimate was made, new information has come to light from the local authority sector and others that means this costing has to be looked at again. This process is now in progress with my Department.
The cost implications of the inclusion of Fingal and Wexford is based on the reports I have received and it is difficult to estimate with a high degree of accuracy. However, based on the average cost of remediation under the scheme currently and the likely number of dwellings affected, an approximate cost of €15.5 million is predicted. It is important to note this will be incurred over a number of years so the cost in any one year will, in the context of the overall scheme's costs, be minimal and will not involve any additional requests for funding from the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation at this time.
I am satisfied the scheme is delivering for many homeowners in affected counties, with more than €235 million spent on the scheme to date. I remain acutely aware that it needs to be closely monitored and changed as our experience and knowledge of this complex issue develops. The motion to extend the scheme to more affected areas is reflective of this commitment. If passed, it will bring the total number of counties designated under the scheme to seven and it builds on the Government funding for DCB work that continues to be provided as and when required on an annual basis, with a record €175 million allocated to fund the scheme in 2026.
I have met with various stakeholders throughout my time as Minister, including representatives from action groups, along with a large number of county councillors, Senators, TDs and MEPs from all parties and none and senior management of local authorities. Each group raised important matters, including the need to extend the eligibility of the scheme to more administrative areas. Many adjustments, such as the designation, are essential interventions and I place on record my appreciation for the collaboration we have had up to this stage with members of local authorities in assisting us in progressing this, as it is urgently required. I want to ensure that homeowners receive the help they need and I believe today's motion is another key step in further assisting homeowners. With the support of the Houses, I hope to have this progressed shortly. I look forward to hearing the contribution of our Senators.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28