Rose Conway-Walsh: Calls for Immediate Review of Defective Block Scheme
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed a parliamentary debate on the defective concrete block remediation scheme, urging an immediate review and greater equity for affected homeowners. She argued the scheme's current design - including grant caps and a 10% homeowner contribution - locks out the poorest and omits vital costs.
Public protests and local impact
Thousands of people lined the streets in Mayo and Donegal, she said, reflecting a sense of unfairness and unjust treatment under the scheme. She highlighted that many families face additional burdens - no provision for rent while rehoused, missing funding for energy savings, and exclusion of essential works such as windows and doors - while still paying property tax.
Expert inquiry and technical findings
She recalled that cracking of external dwellings emerged in 2013 and an expert panel was established in 2016, chaired by Dennis McCarthy. The panel's 2017 report attributed block disintegration to deleterious materials in aggregates - muscovite mica in Donegal and reactive pyrite in Mayo - and the National Standards Authority of Ireland published a standardised assessment protocol in November 2018.
Scheme design and funding limits
The minister set out that the existing grant scheme was informed by the expert panel, the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and by engagement with Donegal and Mayo county councils. Funding of £20 million was provided for 2021; the scheme is demand-led, targeted at homeowners with no practical redress and is remedial rather than compensatory. Grant limits range from £247,500 for option one to £49,500 for option five, with support capped at the recommended remedial option or 90% of eligible costs, whichever is lesser.
Eligibility, homeowner contributions and governance
The department explained the grant model was chosen to give homeowners flexibility and direct control of contractors; the contribution requirement was raised from an initial 80-20 to 90-10 to control costs and encourage appropriate remediation and reuse of materials. The minister has engaged with stakeholder groups, and Seamus Neely was appointed chair of an Independent Working Group to oversee implementation. Rose Conway-Walsh said the scheme as drafted is not fit for purpose and called for an immediate review to address inequity and the human impact of the defects.
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Minister, thank you for taking this topical issue. Thousands of people lined the streets in Mayo and Donegal last weekend because of the sense of unfairness and unjust treatment that they have been getting under this scheme. All that they want, Minister, is equity and fairness. Equity in that 90% is not sufficient to cover the cost. The big problem is that people who can least afford it are locked out of this scheme as they are at the moment. There is also no provision that has been made for families who have to move out, which is most of them, to have for their rent while they have moved out. Funding has not been allowed for the energy savings as it is at the moment. That really can be fixed. It needs to be looked at. The windows and doors need to be included. And to add insult to injury, all of these families are forced to pay property tax. Minister, you need to review this scheme. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you giving discretion to the deputies to make their own contributions, given that five deputies brought this issue forward. It is a hugely important issue and I know that Minister O'Brien is committed to meeting residents in Mayo and has met with families in Donegal as well. The cracking of external dwellings in Donegal and Mayo due to crumbling of concrete block work came to light in 2013 and an expert panel was established in 2016 to investigate the matter. The panel, chaired by Dennis McCarthy, formerly of Waterford County Council and representatives from the NSAI Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland and the Institute of Geologists of Ireland, compiled their report, which was published in 2017. It concluded that the disintegration of concrete blocks used in the construction of affected dwellings in Donegal and Mayo was primarily due to excessive amounts of deleterious materials in the aggregate used to manufacture the concrete blocks. Deleterious material in Donegal was primarily muscovite mica and in Mayo was primarily reactive pyrite. The National Standards Authority of Ireland published a standardised protocol in November 2018 for the assessment, testing and categorisation of damaged buildings incorporating concrete blocks containing certain deleterious materials. Rigorous analysis has therefore been carried out in relation to the circumstances that led to the defective concrete block issue. An existing scheme was informed by the work of the expert panel and finalised in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The process also took into account the comprehensive engagement that took place between our Department and both Donegal and Mayo County Councils and operate and administer that scheme. The grant limits agreed on foot of this engagement ensures that a scheme can be budgeted for with the potential financial liability known at all times and also to ensure that the available budget can benefit the majority of properties and the maximum number of people. Mindful that the scheme is being funded from the Exchequer and the scope cannot be open-ended. Funding of £20 million has been provided to administer the scheme in 2021. The scheme will be demand-led and the level of funding may vary between the two local authorities. I am just referring to the two local authorities here. The grant scheme targets a restricted group of homeowners who have no practical options to access redress and it is not a compensation scheme. It is provided in order to remediate the issues of the defective blocks or return the building to a condition it would have been in if it had not been affected by the use of deleterious materials in the block work, namely mica and pyrite. The level of funding available is subject to the maximum limits depending on the remedial option recommended in the engineer's report or 90% of the eligible costs, whichever is the lesser. The maximum grants payable from £247,500 for option one to £49,500 for option five. I am taking on board and acknowledging the points raised about additional costs to homeowners. The decision to go with a grant scheme as opposed to a type of scheme provided by the Pyrite Remediation Board was intended to give homeowners the flexibility to manage their own projects and allow them to deal directly with the appointed contractor. Initially, the grant was proposed to be 80-20, but following further consideration of political representation, it was changed to 90-10. The Department is formulating the scheme concluded that the contribution of 10% from affected owners was appropriate to control costs, incentivise the use of appropriate remediation options and to promote the reuse of materials where feasible. This is also in line with how similar government's grant schemes operate or have operated in the past. The applicant contributed to the cost is a key requirement. The Programme for Government sets out a number of commitments in respect of the important policy area of building defects and provides an examination of defects in housing, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Ractors Committee on Housing Safes Houses report. In this regard, my Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been actively engaging with key stakeholders, and the Minister has had several meetings with stakeholder representative groups on this matter. Thank you, Minister. The Minister appointed Seamus Neely, former Chief Executive of Donegal County Council, to the position of Chair of the Independent Working Group, and the Chair will oversee the effective implementation of the group's terms of reference. Thank you, Minister. Minister, it is very clear. Cross-party. This scheme is not fit for purpose as it is. Mayo and Donegal will not stand for being treated differently than people in the other part of the country. We need a review. We need an immediate review. Minister, I have seen people get sick. I have seen people absolutely bought to their knees by looking at what has happened to their houses through no fault of their own. They have been left hung out to dry. Minister, please come in and do something in this. This scheme has to be reviewed. I believe it can be corrected, and I think it needs to be corrected sooner rather than later, so that people and families can get on with their lives. Thank you for giving the deputies the opportunity to have their say on this. It is coming across parity and coming across loud and clear. Certainly, I think the comparisons in relation to the Pyrite scheme, you know, the average cost of this will be double of that of the average cost of the Pyrite scheme, or the average cost per intervention here. With regard to the scheme, the aim of the scheme is to help insofar as possible to reinstate the average size dwelling, the condition that it would have been in the original block work had it not been affected by Pyrite and MICA. Mindful that the scheme is being funded from the Exchequer, the scope cannot be open-ended. The funding that is available must be used prudently to achieve the most efficient and cost-effective outcomes. Regarding the issue in relation to those initial engineering costs, it may be possible for applicants and an appointed engineer to come to an arrangement where an engineer is willing to wait for the local authority to pay out for the grant funding in respect of the work. That is just one option. But our Department officials and Minister O'Brien are working closely. I spoke to Deputy Culleri earlier this evening as well in relation to Mayo and I think the Minister has committed to going there to meet and he has also met with residents in Donegal. I would also like to emphasize that the Department is engaging with the SAI to explore synergies between the existing grant schemes and the defective concrete block scheme. It is our aim to ensure that eligible applicants can access these grants while remediation works are underway. I believe that the scheme is fair and equitable and it will work for the vast majority of homeowners with the five remediation options available to those support affected. It must be acknowledged that the scheme is available to those with no other practical means to return the dwelling to a condition that would have been in had not been affected by the conditions of the block work, namely micropyrite. But I am taking on board and will take back the concerns that have been raised by the deputies and acknowledge the suffering and hurt that it is causing so many people in Mayo and Donegal. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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