Defective concrete scheme activity ’continues to trend upwards’ - Donegal Daily

Donegal County Council has said the volume of activity relating to the Enhanced Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme ’continues to trend upwards’.In its monthl...

Donegal County Council has said the volume of activity relating to the Enhanced Defective Concrete Block Grant Scheme 'continues to trend upwards'.

In its monthly activity report on the implementation of the scheme, published today, the council said there has been 'a rise in both the number of homeowners submitting applications to the scheme and undertaking remedial works.'

Up to and including 31st August, there have been 3991 online registrations for the scheme and 2856 applications received.

Additionally, there have been 1538 approved remediation option and grant amounts issued, with works commenced on 1071.

A total of 434 works are complete and 637 properties have ongoing works.

€283.4 million has been paid to affected homeowners to date, with €553,341,161 approved.

When broken into categories, the remediation works payments amount to €259,851,607.

The Ancillary Grant amount payments are €7,748,207 and competent Building Professional / Engineer Report Fees amount to €7,951,765.

Professional fees, such as Remedial Works Plan, Health & Safety, Professional Oversight are €7,855,897, with the total amounting to €283,407,477.

At the commencement of the Enhanced Scheme, Donegal County Council had 1,296 applications received under the Previous Scheme, which required transitioning to the Enhanced Scheme.

These applications are referred to as 'Transitional Applications'.

Donegal County Council had issued approval to 849 applications prior to the commencement of the Enhanced Scheme.

The status of transitional applications as of 31st August 2026 are as follows:

The Remediation Option Grant amounts from the previous scheme, that were calculated or recalculated by Donegal County Council is 699.

Of these, 528 were Option 1; 22 were Option 2; 1 was Option 3; 3 were Option 4 and zero were Option 5.

The value of the grant amounts decided by the Housing Agency was €250,754,928

Under the provisions of the Enhanced Scheme, the technical assessment of validated applications is the remit of the Housing Agency.

The initial step for an application, following validation and referral to the Housing Agency, is the Housing Agency’s Determination of Damage Threshold of the relevant dwelling.

The report outlines how the average timescale for Determination of Damage Threshold by the Housing Agency is 60 days.

For applications that meet the Damage Threshold, the Housing Agency provides an indicative timeline for determination of the Remediation Option & Grant Amount.

The Determination of Damage Threshold and the Remediation Option Grant, as decided by the Housing Agency, is communicated to the applicant by the Council’s DCB Grant Office.

Where it is deemed by the Housing Agency that an application has not met the Damage Threshold or where an applicant is not satisfied with the Approved Remediation Option, the applicant may submit an Appeal to the Independent Appeals Panel.

As of August 31st, the number of applications validated by Donegal County Council and referred to the Housing Agency for determination on Damage Threshold was 1851.

There were nine application for Revised Approval under Section 23 received and referred to the Housing Agency.

There were 1718 determinations on Damage Threshold received from the Housing Agency and communicated to applicant by Donegal County Council

1696 properties were determined by the Housing Agency to meet the Damage Threshold.

Michael Langan helps students find ‘safe space’ through Man United Foundation role

Twenty two properties were determined to have not met the Damage Threshold.

To report confirmed that, to date, the Housing Agency has decided the Remediation Option Grant on 50% of the applications, which have been determined to have met the Damage Threshold under the provisions of the Enhanced Scheme.

The Housing Agency has advised the Council of 47 Appeal Determination Remediation Option Grants.

Of the 839 Remediation Option Grants determined by the Housing Agency, 703 were Option 1; 70 were Option 2; 36 were Option 3; 13 were Option 4 and zero were Option 5.

There were 17 blended option or combination and 19 remediation option grant refusals.

The value of the grant amounts decided by the Housing Agency €302,586,233

Donegal County Council said it 'fully recognises the importance of timely processing of valid Payment Claims under the Defective Concrete Blocks Enhanced Scheme, to ensure cash flow for all parties involved.'

To date, Donegal County Council has processed valid Payment Claims and issued payments to applicant homeowners to a value of over €283m.

In a four-week rolling period, the number of claims paid was 311.

The average number of days from a claim is submitted to paid - this includes time for submission of further information where the initial payment claim submitted was incomplete - is 21.6.

The average number of Days from a valid claim approved to claim paid is 7.22.

Since quarter three of 2023 to August, 2026, the highest number of claims received was in quarter two of this year, 2026, at 172.

Of the 2856 applications received up to 31 August, 2744 were deemed Principal Private Residence (PPR) 2744 and 112 Residential Tenancy Board (RTB).

A total of 19 applications were deemed ineligible and 40 applications were withdrawn by the applicant.

The total monthly activity report, which also outlines and gives information on amendments to existing legislation, can be found here.