1728. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider changing the qualifying criteria for the defective concrete blocks scheme in order that homeowners whose property currently exhibits group two or group three cracking do not have to wait years to access State support; if he will allow entry based on a confirmed positive material test rather than crack width alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57286/26]

The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 as amended by the Act of 2025 underpins the Grant Scheme which provides grant funding to people whose homes have been affected by Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB).

A number of amendments contained in the 2025 Act came into operation on 25 February 2026 and more recently further provisions commenced on 27 May 2026.

The Housing Agency act as technical agents on behalf of the local authorities. Applications received by a local authority are referred to the Housing Agency to review the ‘Building Condition Assessment’ (BCA) report and make the final determination on whether homes have met the ‘damage threshold’ for entry to the scheme.

The 'damage threshold' is the minimum level of damage which must be present in a home in order for that dwelling to be allowed access into the grant scheme. The damage itself must be linked to the suspected presence of defective concrete blocks in the home and will be considered as part of the Building Condition Assessment process by a competent building professional.

The purpose of having a damage threshold is to ensure that the worst affected homes are prioritised first.

The National Standards Authority Ireland (NSAI) on 2 June 2026 published a revised standard, I.S. 465:2026.

As per section 51 of the 2022 Act, I now intend to launch a review of the operation of the Act. The 2022 Act mandates that not later than 3 months after completion of this review that I, as Minister, shall make a report to each House of the Oireachtas of my findings and conclusions resulting from that review. The Review will commence shortly and measures are being put in place to ensure this happens in line with the terms of the 2022 Act as set down.

A number of aspects of the Act will be reviewed and matters relating to the qualifying criteria for damage to dwellings may be considered as part of the review.