Donegal County Council says its Defective Concrete Block Grant Office processed and issued a further 69 Payment Claims to the value of €1.5m throughout March 2024.
This brings the total amount paid out to approved applicants impacted by defective concrete blocks in their homes to the sum of €22.8m.
At present, a further 52 claims are being processed, 19 of which are Ancillary Grant Applications and 33 of which are Remediation Works Claims.
The council says applications for the Ancillary Grant are currently being assessed against the requirements of the scheme as set out by the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, and payments will be processed as quickly as possible once the applications are validated.
In terms of the 33 Payment Claims in progress, five have been received since March 25th and are being assessed, requests for further information has been sent out in respect of seven of them, and further information has been received in respect of the remaining 21, which are currently being reassessed.
The Council says it is committed to streamlining the application and payment claims processes as much as possible, while ensuring compliance with the Scheme.
More information and links to the claim forms are available HERE
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Statement in full –
Update on Enhanced DCB Grant Scheme
Donegal County Council released the Payment Tile for both the Remedial Works and the Ancillary Grant onto the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme online Portal on 29th February 2024. This release enabled all remaining approved applicants who had received their Remediation Option and Grant Amount under the provisions of Scheme, to submit their payment claims via their online Portal.
Since then, Donegal County Council’s DCB Grant Office has processed and issued a further 69 no. Payment Claims to the value of €1.5m throughout March 2024. This brings, to date, the total reimbursement of grants paid out to approved applicants impacted by defective concrete blocks in their homes to the sum of €22.8m.
The Council recognises and fully appreciates the importance of timely processing of stage payments to approved applicants, to ensure the continued cash flow for the applicant, their Competent Building Professional and their Contractor. In that regard, when the Pre-Payment Steps have been duly completed, in accordance with the requirements as set out in the provisions of the Enhanced Grant Scheme, the DCB Grant Office proceeds without delay in processing payments.
Furthermore during the month of March 2024, the DCB Grant office has continued to support applicants through the Grant Scheme processes. This support includes engagement with applicants from their initial application onto the DCB Grant Scheme, issuing notifications and updates on referral of their application to the Housing Agency, provision of updates on Damage Threshold decisions, provision of notifications to approved applicants on their Remediation Option Grant Amount and assisting applicants with the Payment Claim requirements.
The Council’s DCB Grant Office is currently processing a further 52 no. Payment Claims which are at various stages in the Payment Work Flows as follows:
| Ancillary Grant Applications | Remediation Works Claims | Total Number of Payment Claims being processed at 3rd April 2024 |
| 19 | 33 | 52 |
The applications for the Ancillary Grant are currently being assessed against the requirements of the Enhanced DCB Grant Scheme as set out by the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage. When validated, payments to applicants will be processed as soon as possible by Donegal County Council.
The 33 no. Payment Claims in progress for the reimbursement of Remediation Works Costs can be broadly categorised as follows:
| Payment Claims where applicants have been notified of Further Information required to support the claim | 7 |
| Payment Claims where applicants have returned Further Information which is currently being re-assessed by Council | 21 |
| Payment Claims received in period from 25th March 2024 to 3rd April 2024 and are currently being assessed | 5 |
Donegal County Council is required to administrate the DCB Enhanced Grant Scheme Payment in accordance with the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 and the 2023 Regulations, and all applications processed are subject to Public Expenditure audit.
The Council takes this opportunity to assure applicants of our ongoing support and commitment to streamline the application and the payment claims processes as much as possible, while ensuring compliance with the Scheme.
The Council will continue to keep our Enhanced Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme website pages, https://www.donegalcoco.ie/defectiveconcreteblocks/, updated and the monthly Update Report on the Implementation of the DCB Enhanced Grant Scheme for the period to 31st March 2024, will be uploaded shortly.
