Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is another example of the poor standards that existed during the so-called Celtic tiger years for buildings and apartment blocks such as Longboat Quay. Deputy McDonald is aware that the Building Control Act 1990 placed responsibility for compliance with building regulations on the owner of the building concerned, its designer and the builder-developer who carried out the works - in this case, the person named by the Deputy. Enforcement of these regulations and responsibility for their enforcement are matters for local authorities which have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the Building Control Acts and Fire Safety Act 1981.

The Deputy will be aware of the reports of fire certificates being issued and not being acted on in a particular time. The Planning and Development Acts and Housing Acts may also be relevant to fire safety, which has been the cause of the extreme and stressful position in which the residents of Longboat Quay find themselves. Remediation of defects - renovation works to deal with them - is a matter for the parties concerned, namely, the current owners and the builder-developer and his or her agents and insurers. If a satisfactory resolution cannot be found or achieved through dialogue or negotiation, the option of seeking a legal remedy is always available.

The issues that emerged during this debacle are a matter for the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the receiver to the developer, the residents of Longboat Quay and their management company and Dublin Fire Brigade to resolve collaboratively. I understand that all these parties are anxious to find a resolution and the management company and others have met the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in the past hour or thereabouts to seek a resolution to this matter in order that the residents, who paid good money for their apartments and homes, are not required to live in this very stressful condition where their homes are deemed to be dangerous.

Since Longboat Quay was built, a number of changes have been made to the regulations that apply. Since 1 March 2015, greatly strengthened arrangements have been in place for the control of building activity. These require greater accountability in respect of the conditions that apply and are awarded for planning in the first place. I am not aware of the detail of the outcome of the meeting between the Minister and representatives of the management company in the past hour. Responsibility is vested across a number of interest areas and I hope the matter can be resolved. I am aware of the reduction in the original figure mentioned but that is not satisfactory for the residents of Longboat Quay.

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