At the end of September, the Minister of State in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Peter Burke, replied to a parliamentary question I submitted on the commencement of the defective blocks Act. His response stated, "The aim and intention is to have the regulations and guidelines finalised before the end of the year with the scheme opening for applications as soon as possible thereafter, which I expect will only be a matter of weeks later." The Tánaiste will remember that his Government rammed this legislation through the Houses before the summer break without proper scrutiny and with claims of great urgency, yet it still sits on the shelf uncommenced. The Minister and the Department have form in this area. Over the last ten years, the Department has left 450 sections of 19 separate Acts sitting uncommenced.

My constituents in Donegal are at their wits' end with the Government's combined failures and delays. Will the Tánaiste update the House on the new timeline for the commencement of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022?

On the issue of getting the legislation through, it was not rammed through; we wanted to get it on the Statute Book as quickly as we possibly could so that we could develop the scheme and get working on it. As the Deputy is aware, progress is being made in parallel with the work on the commencement of the regulations. I will talk to the Minister about it but my understanding is that the regulations will be ready very shortly.