The Housing Minister and Housing Agency have both issued statements this afternoon stressing they have no role or function in the determination of appeals under the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme.
It comes after nearly 30 homeowners wrote to Housing Minister James Browne this week, expressing frustration over two-year delays in receiving decisions from the Defective Concrete Appeals Panel.
The Department of Housing statement concludes the Panel are statutorily independent from the Minister, and it would be improper for the Minister to interfere in any way with the decisions or timelines of the Panel.
Department of Housing statement –
‘The Appeals Panel was established to assess appeals made under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete (DCB) Blocks Grant Scheme. The establishment of this Panel offers those affected by decisions made by the Housing Agency and Local Authorities an opportunity to have their cases assessed by an independent group of industry experts.
The Appeals Panel is made up of building and legal professionals and every appeal will be reviewed by the Panel who will make objective determinations based on the details supplied by each appellant.
The Panel continues the process of assessing appeals made under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete (DCB) Blocks Grant Scheme, with the Chair of the Appeals Panel allocating appeals to constituent appeals boards for them to review.
The Panel are statutorily independent from the Minister and are therefore independent in the performance of their functions. As such it would be improper for the Minister to interfere in any way with the decisions or timelines of the Panel.
The Chair of the Panel is Darren Lehane SC. Mr. Lehane appoints three panel members to Appeals Boards to assess the appeals. This is set out in Section 39 of the Act. Any timelines and communication regarding appeals are a matter for the Panel. ‘
Housing Agency statement –
“The Housing Agency is independent of the appeals process and has no role or function in the determination of appeals under the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme.”
