Christopher O'Sullivan: Government response to I.S. 465 revision

First of all, thank you to the group involved in bringing this motion to the House today. I would say that the case is well made and Deputy Ward in particular, no one has experienced or lived this experience the way you have. No member of this House can say that they have actually lived and breathed this issue the way you have, having personally experienced it, so I completely appreciate the points and sentiments made. No disrespect to you Deputy Murphy, your point is made as well, but just to say that at the outset you have lived this and no one can speak on it with such authority as yourself. Just to say though, in terms of the standards, the standards were just revised on June 2nd and we do have to rely on the science that we have and there's kind of mixed messages coming there. On one hand Deputy Murphy is saying that the science is faulty, Deputy Ward you're saying that you have full faith in the science and the scientists, so we kind of have to decide do we trust the science and the evidence that we have as per the revised standards or not. But look, if I could give a shred of comfort, despite the fact that we're proposing an amendment, the Minister has committed to reviewing the Act as quickly as possible. Don't have an exact timeline for that, but we'll review the Act as quickly as possible because, as you said, the evidence is always emerging and new evidence emerges. Today's motion sets out a number of matters relating to the recently released standards and I'll do my best in the time that I have to address as many as I can. As the debate progresses I'm sure there will be time at the end to address further issues during the time allocated in concluding remarks. Firstly I would like to emphasise the government recognises the distress experienced by thousands of homeowners caused by the use of defective concrete blocks in their homes. My government colleagues and I are absolutely committed to ensuring that all such homeowners are provided with the right assistance to remediate their homes to allow them to move on with their lives. The publication of the new standard is welcome. The deputies will be aware that in November 2021, as Ireland's official standards body, the National Standards Authority of Ireland was tasked by government with a special review of the previous standard. This review started in March 2022 and has been conducted by the TC63 Concrete Blocks Committee of the National Standards Authority of Ireland. Membership of this committee included representatives of the concrete industry, Engineers Ireland, the Geological Survey Ireland, Homeowner Action Groups and the Housing Agency. The department also participated in this group during the full period of its deliberations on the revision of IS 465 2018. The state also funded the required independent research that contributed significantly to the review of the standard. My department remains in regular contact with those affected and we continue to work to listen to homeowners as we keep the scheme under review to identify where we can improve how it operates. The level of commitment shown by this government to affected homeowners is clearly shown by our actions over the past few years. Principally these relate to the funding we have provided and the way we have extended the scope of the scheme as and when needed. Finally there is the very real and practical way in which we monitor of how the scheme is working within the framework of the legislation set down by the Oireachtas and how we adapt to changing circumstances to improve the scheme for homeowner participants on a continuous basis including making amending legislation in the houses last year that you'll be aware of. Over 3,500 homeowners are now at various stages of the DCB grant scheme and will be supported with grants for eligible expenditure up to a maximum cap of 462,000 euro per household. This represents a 10% increase in the maximum cap since the scheme was launched in 2023. More than 336 million has been spent on the scheme to date with government funding for this work continues to be provided as and when required on an annual basis with a record 175 million euro allocated to the fund scheme in 2026. That's more than double the amount allocated to the scheme last year and reflects in the increase up to take in the grant to take up in the grant scheme. Over 500 homes have been fully remediated to date with approximately 750 more currently at various stages of construction. When the current grant scheme launched in 2023 it contained four designated local authority areas. In 2024 Sligo County Council was added to that scheme and this year parts of Fingal County Council and Wexford County Council were added to the scheme. Parts of Meath County Council and Carnell County Council will also shortly be added to the scheme. Following the commencement of various parts of the 2025 Defective Concrete Blocks Amendment Act, Minister Brown adapted regulations in February and June that provided welcome improvements to the grant scheme. The February regulations allowed homeowners that had suffered construction inflation to apply to the scheme for an increased grant resulting in them receiving additional funding to remediate their homes. The June regulations operationalized further improvements including a key change to allow certain homeowners apply to the scheme to enable them to build a new adjacent property to their affected home and remain in it until the new home is completed. This has provided welcome relief for families that have homes adapted for the needs of members of the household. These regulations also recognize that there are many affected homes that are attached to other affected homes such as a semi-detached properties. Prior to this change if one of the two attached dwellings did not meet the scheme damage threshold it could not proceed to obtain determination from the housing agency. The regulation provided a route for these cohort of applicants that provided a pathway for them to receive a determination under the grant scheme. I guess the point being deputies is that there has been adaptations and amendments since the grant scheme was first introduced. The current grant scheme was designed in accordance with the prevailing scientific evidence available at the time. With the publication of IS 465 2026 we now have the most up-to-date science available that will help shape changes to the grant scheme following a review of the operation in the 2022 Act. This requirement is contained in the 2022 Act itself as section 51. It requires that the Minister for Housing must initiate a review within three months of the completion of the review of the national standard IS 465 2018 and within months of the completion of the review he shall make a report to each house of the Oireachtas with his findings and conclusions of the review. I understand the urgency of this review for homeowners. Officials in my department have already begun preparation work that will assist this review. A request for legal advice was submitted to the Attorney General's Office and it has provided initial advice on the implications of IS 465 2026 on the grant scheme with further advice expected in the coming weeks. The initial advice has indicated that current scheme participants can continue to proceed with their works under the determination given to them. I should emphasize that the review will focus as per the provisions of the 2022 Act on the operation of the Act in the first instance. All matters relating to the introduction of IS 465 2026 and its interaction with the grant scheme will be considered as part of the review of the 2022 Act. This will include the matter of foundations. Now I appreciate that naturally there has been significant focus on the foundations issue arising out of the publication of the revised standard. My understanding is that there were a range of views submitted to the NSAI regarding the impact or otherwise on foundations in the median to longer term. Until this improvement review is complete it would be premature for me to speculate on exactly what changes may be required to be made to the grant scheme with regards to foundations or indeed any other aspect of the scheme. I want to ensure that as we now have the most up-to-date science that proper time and consideration is given to understanding how this new knowledge impacts the scheme and how we can best use it to assist applicants of the scheme. I'm very much aware also of the very real concern out there amongst homeowners wishing to have clarity and certainty about how their sometimes unique set of circumstances will be catered for going forward. A balance will have to be struck between a robust and comprehensive review and the need to have this done in a timely manner that pays due respect to the real concerns of homeowners. My department has been working closely over the past few weeks since the publication of IS465-2026 with the designated local authorities, the housing agency and homeowner liaison officer. A number of meetings have taken place to assess the potential immediate impact of the revised standard on scheme participants. Communications will issue shortly from my department to update homeowners in detail where appropriate and where they stand following IS465, the IS465 revision. The government has always committed to following the science when it comes to the effective concrete block scheme. The approach I've outlined in my speech is once again clear evidence of this. I'll conclude now by thanking the Standards Authority of Ireland for all of the time and effort that went into the new standard. I specifically want to acknowledge the effort of the committee members and acknowledge that this following work was time consuming and difficult. So I think that outlines the current situations. The new standards have just been published. The potential impact is still being realised and it's too soon. But as has been the case since the grant scheme was introduced, we have always amended, we have always adapted, we've introduced new measures, we've introduced new provisions and if that's necessary again we will. But just to say the Minister has committed to reviewing the Act as quickly as possible and bringing that report to the House of the Oireachtas. Thank you. you