Council explains its new role in enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme

Donegal County Council has issued a statement on the enhanced grant scheme for the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by Defective Concrete Blocks.

The council has acknowledged the announcement by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to the introduction of the Enhanced Grant Scheme.

The Enhanced Scheme has replaced the previous scheme and will bring significant and improved changes to assist homeowners who have been impacted and affected by the presence of deleterious materials, to have their homes remediated. 

Both Donegal County Council and the Housing Agency have roles in the implementation of the new Scheme. The Council’s role is changed significantly and involves the administration of the scheme, including the validation of applications and the issuing of payments.  The Council does not have any engineering role within the new Scheme.  

New applications under the Enhanced Scheme.

The Council has undertaken significant work preparing for the implementation of the new scheme, and the existing Online Application System is being updated to reflect same. The Council will be in a position to receive applications online under the Enhanced Scheme from Monday 10^th July 2023. 

In the meantime, and in preparation for making applications, homeowners are encouraged to review the ‘Guidelines’ together with ‘Your Questions Answered’ as issued by the Department. These can be found on the Department website at https://www.gov.ie/en/service/8002e-enhanced-defective-concrete-blocks-grant-scheme/ .

Existing applications made under the previous scheme.

In parallel with receiving new applications, there is now a requirement for the existing 1296 applications made under the previous scheme, to transition to the new Enhanced Scheme.  This will involve the calculation of grant amounts due under the Enhanced Scheme.  Given the volume of applications, this is likely to take a period of time to complete.

These applications are within 2 broad categories as follows:

1. 848 applications have already received Confirmation of Eligibility (Stage 1 Approval). These will be transitioned to the new Scheme by the Council.  This will take a period of time. There is no action required by these homeowners currently. The Council will be in touch with individual homeowners in this regard, with the initial priority being given to homeowners who have already completed or have commenced their remediation works, with a view to paying additional grant money, where due, under the Enhanced Scheme. The Council will also be examining how certain cases such as vulnerable homeowners’ applications together with the worst affected homes, can be dealt with as part of this process.

1. 251 of the 1296 applications have already been referred to the Housing Agency for engineering / technical assessment under the terms of the Enhanced Scheme.  Each homeowner in this category has been advised that their application has progressed to the Housing Agency. The remainder of applications will be transferred to the Housing Agency, subject to validation requirements and the homeowners notified accordingly.

It should be borne in mind that, in the early stages of implementing the new scheme, the Council are taking a high volume of calls and queries. Council staff are currently familiarising themselves with the guidelines just received, and the Council appreciate homeowners’ continued patience and understanding as staff manage this heightened workload, during the initial implementation period.