Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The fire at the apartment complex in Blanchardstown serves to underline the need for urgency in addressing building defects in apartments and duplexes. Thankfully, nobody was injured and the residents are very thankful for the work of Dublin Fire Brigade in this regard. However, we know from a Government-commissioned report that between 50% and 80% of all apartment and duplex blocks built between 1991 and 2013 have defects, mostly fire defects. The Government has had the report for over a year. We have a commitment to a 100% redress scheme but things are moving incredibly slowly. The latest is that we will have the heads of a Bill at the end of this year and, hopefully, a scheme in place by the autumn of next year, when in all likelihood we will be on the verge of a general election. This is not good enough. We cannot gamble with the lives of people who are living in apartments and duplexes. We need urgency on this and, in particular, we need emergency funding for work that needs to be done. We need a debate on this in the House.

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