Deputy Charles Ward has urged the Minister for Housing to reconsider the proposed fixed date of March 29, 2024 in the upcoming Defective Concrete Amendment Bill.
The proposed changes, which were approved by Cabinet last week, would include an increased scheme cap to €462,000 and retrospectively pay the updated grant rates to all applicants who have incurred costs since March 29, 2024.
The amendment would also see an extension of the timeframe for completing remediation works from 65 weeks to 130 weeks.
Deputy Ward from the 100% Redress Party says the amendment continues to penalise early movers. This, he says, “flies in the face of what Minister Darragh O’Brien himself publicly promised”.
Just over 100 homes have been rebuilt/remediated through the scheme as of May 2025.
Deputy Ward stated that only 43 of those were actually completed by the 29th March 2024 and that the vast majority of families have now been unjustly excluded from fair treatment.
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, the Donegal TD added that splitting eligibility mid-project is “complete madness”, saying: “it creates a two-tier system and punishes those who acted quickly, in good faith, often at great personal and financial risk.”
Deputy Ward has urged the Minister to reconsider the fixed date and to engage with homeowners, saying: “I remain hopeful that together we can create a scheme that is fair and that leaves no one behind.”
