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

I thank the Deputy for raising this most important issue. As he will know, I received Government approval on 18 January to draft legislation to establish supports for the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. I know the Deputy agrees that the legislation we need will provide a statutory basis for the establishment of a remediation scheme aimed at protecting the safety and welfare of those living in apartments or duplexes with such defects. It is a commitment I made in opposition, and one that I am happy to see through now. We have worked on this across the House.

I briefed stakeholders on the Government decision at a public webinar which was held on Monday, 27 February. More than 680 people registered to attend that webinar and I understand their desire for information as and when it becomes available and as we work through the process. I will continue to do that with them. A registration portal is being developed by the Housing Agency, which is at an advanced stage and which will serve as a knowledge base, allowing people to input information on their own specific developments. In order to ensure that important life-safety works are not paused, remediation works related to fire safety defects, entered into or commenced from 18 January 2023, will form part of the remediation scheme. I want to be very clear about that. Those costs will be covered. When I discussed it with residents at the webinar, it was an important step forward that they knew that any immediate works that needed to happen from a safety perspective will be covered in the overall costs. We are working on a hardship scheme, for want of a better phrase, for management companies that do not have the ability or the financial resources to do some of the initial remediation work. We are working through that as well, and I informed residents of that. Obviously, those works will need to be agreed with the local fire safety services. A code of practice in the context of the Fire Services Acts, to provide guidance to relevant professionals, including guidance on interim safety measures, is at an advanced stage of being developed.

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