Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I fully acknowledge the difficulties that owners and residents of many apartments and duplexes are facing and the stress caused by these defects in their homes. We are committed, as a Government, to supporting such homeowners. That commitment was included in the programme for Government and, from that, as the Deputy will know, I established a working group to examine defects in housing in February 2021. It reported at the end of July, I published the report and I know the Deputy and the Oireachtas joint committee have that report. I brought the report to Government in September and I have established an interdepartmental and agency group with a view to bringing forward specific proposals to Government by the end of this year. In addition, an advisory group has been established to develop a code of practice, in particular in the area of the Fire Services Acts, to provide guidance to relevant professionals, including guidance on interim safety measures that we will need to take. This advisory group is due to have its inaugural meeting later this month.

As the work progresses, I am committed to continuing to liaise with key stakeholders, such as the Construction Defects Alliance, the Apartment Owners Network and other homeowner representatives, and the insurance sector, representatives of which I met with last week to discuss this issue. We are engaging with the Housing Agency for the provision of advice in regard to implementation of the recommendations of the report.

I confirm that the Government will provide support to homeowners who find themselves in this terrible situation, this very difficult financial situation, through no fault of their own. As I said, the options in this regard will be considered by the Government in advance of the recess in the coming weeks. We will need to bring in legislation also, and I will come back to the Deputy by way of a supplementary with further advice on that.

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