Independent Panel to assess appeals under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme

An Appeals Panel to assess appeals made under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the use of Defective Concrete (DCB) Blocks Grant Scheme has been established by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage .

The Public Appointments Service (PAS) carried out the recruitment, assessment, and selection of the Appeals Panel provided for in the General Scheme.

Darren Lehane SC has been appointed Chair of the Panel.

The Appeals Panel

The Appeals Panel is made up of building and legal professionals geographically spread across the country including members based in three of the currently designated DCB counties of Donegal, Mayo and Clare.

The membership of the Panel is as follows:

• Darren Lehane, Senior Counsel, BCL, LLM (Chair).
• Sheila O’Riordan, Barrister at Law
• John Kennedy, CEng MIEI, MSc, BSc, PGDip FSP, CEng FCABE. Chartered Engineer.
• Peter Cutliffe. BA, Financial Advisor (QFA), CDip LA, MRICS/SCSI/ACABE.
• Sarah Reid, LL.B, LL.M. B.L.
• Peter Dennehy, BL, BA.BAI., C.Eng., FIEI, FCIArb.
• John Reidy, BE DipProjMgmt DipConstLaw&CA CEng MIEI MCIArb.

The points of appeal that are available to a DCB applicant include at:

• the validation stage by the local authority;
• the damage threshold determination made by the Housing Agency;
• the choice of the remediation option;
• the grant amount approved and where a local authority refuse to make a grant payment pursuant to grant approval.

An appeal can be made free of charge. The Notice of Appeal form is set out at Schedule 15 of the Regulations under the Enhanced Scheme, and should be sent by the applicant or relevant owner with any supporting documents, to:

Appeals Panel, c/o the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme Unit, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Custom House, Dublin 1, D01 W6X0.

The appeals process and the Board itself is statutorily independent of the Minister. The Department will provide limited administrative support during the initial stage of the process.

The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) commenced on 22 June 2023, and the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) were adopted on 29 June 2023.

Section 37 of the Act provides for the establishment of the Appeals panel.