Amendment No. 18 proposes an amendment to mandate the production of an annual report that summarises the technical data that may be held by designated local authorities or the Housing Agency. Information of this nature does not relate to the operation of the grant scheme under the principal Act, and for this reason I cannot support this amendment.

The proposed subsection (3A) in amendment No. 19 states that the purpose should be for administrative verification and not for reducing or offsetting any grant payable under the principal Act. I confirm the amendment contained in the Bill does not relate to reducing grant payments under the principal Act. The purpose of the amendment in the Bill is solely to assist the SEAI in ensuring it does not double fund payments made under its energy retrofit scheme. Similarly, with amendment No. 20, the amendment contained i…

I understand the Senators have moved amendment No. 22 to ensure that no homeowner is denied access to the scheme on the basis that their dwelling is not located in a designated local authority area. Section 5 of the principal Act contains a pathway for other local authority areas to gain access to the scheme as required. Indeed, further local authority areas are soon to be designated under the scheme using this pathway. This process has worked for Sligo which was designated under the scheme last year. Subject to Go…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce the Second Stage of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 to the Seanad and I thank the Members for facilitating the debate on this very important Bill. As outlined previously, this Bill intends to make amendments to the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022. A number of issues have arisen to date that will be addressed by the amen…

I move: That Standing Order 194 is modified in accordance with Standing Order 241(2) to provide that it be an instruction to the Committee in relation to the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025, that the Committee has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing subject matter of the Bill in order to make amendments to the Building Control Acts 1990 to 2020, in order to provide for: a) the submission of Certificates of Co…

The purpose of this motion is to improve the building control regime that is in place to ensure the required standards for building regulations are met. These amendments will make certain that building regulations and building control regulations are further strengthened and clarified to the benefit of all stakeholders. In terms of the proposed regularisation process, the amendments provide for a process of regularisation for the uncommon situation whereby works have commenced or been completed on a building withou…

I thank the Deputy. I will respond to amendment No. 1, which proposes to amend the Short Title of the Bill. This amendment would render the Short Title of the Bill incomplete and imply that the Bill relates to other concrete products, not just defective concrete blocks. As the Deputy is aware, the function of the Bill is to amend sections of the principal Act that provide financial assistance to homeowners that have homes damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks. In those circumstances, I therefore cannot ac…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “(3) The Building Control Acts 1990 to 2020 and Part 3 may be cited together as the Building Control Acts 1990 to 2025.”. Amendment No. 3 is a standard provision to allow for the collective citation of the Building Control Acts 1990 to 2025. It refers to Part 3, which is the Part being inserted into the Bill by a later amendment related to the Building Control Acts. Amendment No. 13 defines the key term “Principal Act” used in Part…

The intention behind amendment No. 63 is to give flexibility to the Minister of the day, where new systems are being used, to be able to require additional information through regulations. I think that is reasonable to allow flexibility and not have to bring in amendments, as such. I am happy to accede to the Deputy's’ request that regulations will be brought before the committee for further scrutiny.

I will address amendments Nos. 5 to 7, inclusive, tabled by Deputies Ó Broin, Doherty, McGettigan, Conway-Walsh and Mac Lochlainn, and amendment No. 60, tabled by Deputy Ward. On amendment No. 5, as the Deputies are aware the defective concrete blocks grant scheme is a grant scheme of last resort to provide financial assistance to affected homeowners to remediate their homes and move on with their lives. I therefore cannot accept the amendment. Amendment No. 6 proposes that a report on the legislative changes neces…

I will address amendments Nos. 22 and 46, tabled by Deputy Charles Ward. Amendment No. 22 proposes that a designated local authority should allow 30 days for an applicant to reply to a request for further information from the designated local authority relating to an application for an increase in the remediation option grant. It then requires a designated local authority to issue a reminder after this period has elapsed and allows a further 14 days for the applicant to respond before it considers the application t…

I have already explained this. Homeowners who completed remediation works prior to this date were provided for in the first set of scheme caps and rates. They were informed by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland 2023 cost report. The updated report was to look forward and not to bring in retrospective elements to that. The rates that applied applied to transitional applicants from the previous scheme, often referred to as the 90:10 scheme, when they transferred across, but the inflationary pieces are to l…

I seek clarity. Amendment No. 27 is not clear to me in what it proposes to amend. Section 8 of the Bill contains a new section 17A. This section 17A does not contain a subsection (4A). In the circumstances I cannot accept the amendment.

Amendment No. 33 proposes to remove the condition that a homeowner may only apply once for payment of an increased grant and this condition is contained in the Bill primarily in recognition of the fact that homes will be remediated under contracts covered by prices set within any 12-month period. It is also placed to reduce the administrative burden on designated local authorities in processing these payments under the Bill and, therefore, it is not necessary to provide for multiple opportunities to submit a claim …

I very much welcome this opportunity to come before the House to discuss the Government’s new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. The development of this new housing plan was a commitment under the programme for Government. It reaffirms that housing is the number one priority for all arms of government, including local government, and expects that all people and organisations, whether public or private, will play their part in tackling the challenges we face in increasing housing supply and reduci…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Planning and Development Act 2024 (Modification) Regulations 2025, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 18th November, 2025. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the draft regulations and set out the rationale and reasoning behind their development. First, I wish to take this opportunity to provide a brief update on the ongoing phased commencement of the Act of 2024. As Deputies will be aware, the Act of 2024 repres…

The technical regulations before us do a very simple thing.

While the regulations before the House are very technical, what we effectively did was allow local authorities to commence variations under the existing 2000 Act as that is what they are familiar with, rather than commence the rest of Part 3 of the 2024 Act. As they have in some cases commenced certain variations, we need to have a transitional measure put in so that those variations that have commenced will not have to be restarted again when the rest of Part 3 of the 2024 Act commences. It is in the interest of t…

I move: That the proposal that Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 27th November, 2025, be referred to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in accordance with Standing Order 103(5), which, not later than 17th December, 2025, shall send a message to the Dáil in the manner prescribed in Standing Order 110, and Standing Order …

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I welcome the opportunity to outline the provisions of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025. I have met many people the defective concrete blocks issue affects, particularly in the north-western region. I am here today because I have listened to their concerns and to the issues raised by local representatives and advocacy groups on these matters. I am therefore proposing this Bill to amend the current sc…