Scrutiny of defective blocks scheme to be fast-tracked

The Oireachtas housing committee has agreed to fast-track scrutiny of the Government’s multibillion euro defective blocks scheme. It will hold a marathon series of meetings next Thursday in order to speed through the step, which usually culminates in a written report and a series of amendments being sought to the legislation.

Housing minister Darragh O’Brien had sought to bypass the step in an effort to get the law on the statute books before the Dáil rose for its summer break, and Cabinet agreed to write to the committee requesting it do so on Wednesday.

Instead of a written report the committee will write to the Minister outlining any concerns on June 28th, asking him to address them during the passage of the Bill.

The housing committee met on Wednesday and agreed to hold a series of three meetings next Thursday with campaigners and family groups, technical experts such as Engineers Ireland and the Society of Cartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI), and, finally, the Department of Housing and the Housing Agency.

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While neither the outline of the Bill – known as the general scheme – nor the full legislation will be published until after Cabinet meets next week, sources on the committee say they want to examine many technicalities to do with the legislation – not just the financial threshold of €420,000, but what is covered in that, the damage that must have been sustained to be included, whether work on foundations is eligible, and other matters.