Defective block homeowners whose houses were recommended for partial rebuild rather than full rebuild say they’re in limbo as they’ve been waiting more than a year for appeals to be determined.
Sarah Keane from Letterkenny told RTÉ News that her own engineer recommended full demolition, but the Housing Agency recommended a lesser option about two years ago.
She was given 90 days to appeal that decision, which she did more than 18 months ago, but she has yet to receive a determination.
"It’s really upsetting because there’s several houses in this estate where people have been granted full demolition and are able to start getting on with their lives again.
"It feels like it’s never going to end. We can’t plan anything until we’re able to start rebuilding our homes and our lives".
The group DCB downgraded, representing more than 80 homeowners, said it is not aware of any downgrade appeals that have been determined thus far.
RTÉ News asked the statutorily independent Appeals Panel, established in October last year how many ‘downgrade’ appeals had been determined
In a statement, they did not provide a figure, but they said that the Appeals Panel is: "assessing appeals and notifications are being issued to appellants at the conclusion of the appeals process".
Marti McElhinney from the group DCB Downgraded said their family home was tested in September 2021 and was told by her engineer that their "home should be demolished".
The Housing Agency recommended replacing the external inner and out leaf walls and leaving the internals walls – a decision Marti and her husband appealed in August 2024.
She said her family have been left in a "cruel limbo".
"We had 90 days to submit our appeal. The Appeal Panel has given no timeframe [for their determination].
"We left wondering when our appeals will be heard and will those appeals consider the real reason our homes are deteriorating, which is pyrrhotite."
Michelle Carty from Letterkenny told RTÉ News that they feel like the "lives are on hold" as they await a decision having submitted an appeal in October 2024.
"Our original engineer recommended full demolition after he tested the house. We were then downgraded and told we could only remove the outer walls and keep the inner walls.
"We lodged an appeal in October 2024. Our house is deteriorating massively. Some of our inner walls are cracking now. We don’t know when we’re going to hear about it [the appeal]. I feel it’s very unfair".
How did this situation arise?
There are five remedial options available under the enhanced scheme, ranging from full demolition and rebuild to lesser options of demolition and rebuild.
The first defective concrete block [DCB] scheme, also known as the 90/10 scheme, started in June 2020.
Homeowners who applied to that first scheme appointed engineers listed on a specialist register supplied by local authorities to assess their homes.
Those chartered engineers carried out on-site building condition assessments including the scientific analysis of core block samples.
When the enhanced DCB scheme was introduced in June 2023 – applications yet to be determined by local authorities were transferred to the Housing Agency for assessment.
The Housing Agency downgraded the recommended remediation options of full demolition and rebuilt to partial demolition and rebuild in 144 applications.
RTÉ News understands a significant number of those applicants have lodged appeals.
The Appeals Panel tasked with assessing those appeals was established in October 2024.
The Defective Concrete Block Act 2022 provided for the establishment of an Appeals Panel.
What grounds of appeal have the homeowners cited?
The DCB Downgraded group, representing affected homeowners, believe that the Housing Agency did not account for mineral limits of pyrrhotite during assessments.
Scientific research provided to the Department of Housing in 2023 into damaged dwellings in Co Donegal claimed that the underlying mechanism of damage is Internal Sulphate Attack due to the presence of excessive amounts of pyrrhotite.
International peer-reviewed academic research published last year said blockwork containing pyrrhotite "could potentially fail in the future".
Meanwhile, some homeowners have lodged a formal complaint with the EU Commission as they believe the government has failed to implement the EU regulations in relation to the composition of construction blocks.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing told RTÉ News that the Housing Agency have confirmed to the Department that the presence of pyrrhotite is taken into consideration in their analysis.
What is the Appeals Panel?
The seven-person Appeals Panel was established via the Public Appointments Service under the Chair of Senior Counsel Darren Lehane.
The Appeals Panel is statutorily independent in the performance of its functions of the Minister, the Department and the Housing Agency.
The Department of Housing provides administrative assistance to the Appeals Panel and it forwards appeals to the Panel for determination on an incremental basis.
An Appeal Board of three people is constituted by the chairperson from among the members of the Appeals Panel to determine an appeal.
Read more:
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Full technical review offered to downgraded defective block homeowners
The Appeals Panel, for the purpose of ensuring fair procedure, may require a party to the appeal to provide it with further information, and it shall give any other party to the appeal the opportunity to make submissions in relation to that information.
A statement from the Appeals Panel, said: "the requirements of fair procedures differ in respect of each individual appeal".
The Appeal Board will either; affirm the decision, direct the designated local authority or the Housing Agency to reconsider its decision or replace the decision in accordance with the DCB Act.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said as the Appeals Panel is independent of the Minister and of the Housing Agency, "timelines for the issuing of determinations of appeals etc, is a matter for the Chair of the Panel".
How is the DCB Scheme progressing?
More than 2,900 homeowners have submitted applications to the DCB Scheme and work has commenced at more than 980 homes and about 250 homes are completed.
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is conducting the review of the IS 465:2018 testing standard used to assess homes following a government decision in November 2021.
A public consultation period of the revised draft of I.S. 465 concluded on 11 July 2025 received more than 600 submissions. The NSAI is in the process of finalising its review.
Once finalised, the NSAI will publish a revised testing standard for homes suspected of containing defective concrete blocks.
