Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue, which affects tens of thousands of people around the country, including people in the Deputy's constituency and my own. As I have disclosed previously, I am personally affected, as are other members of the Cabinet. We appreciate that Government intervention is required. In some cases, people are able to pay the levy and in other cases they are not. Very often, in multi-unit developments, work is not done because some people are unable to pay, which creates huge difficulties for people. Of course, the cost of this work is increasing all of the time. There are also insurance implications, as the Deputy mentioned in her contribution. The Government has made a commitment, which we will stand over, to help in the very short term with emergency works required for fire safety and in the near term to help people with the cost of these repairs. There will be retrospection because we do not want to discourage people from getting the work done and making the payments where they can.

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has been working to progress the various programmes of work required to put in place this scheme on a statutory footing. This includes the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. It was always anticipated that the scheme would take time to develop and we have always sought to convey that message. It is expected that the draft legislation will be published in early 2024. Subject to the legislative process, the scheme will be in place shortly thereafter. While the Minister is working on the legislation as a matter of priority, sufficient time is required to draft the legislation to ensure the scheme is fit for purpose, provides value for taxpayers and contains appropriate oversight and governance measures. We are committed to helping affected homeowners to get their homes and lives back together. This will require a robust scheme and it will take a period of time to bring forward the legislation required to underpin it.

The scale of defects in apartments and duplexes is significant. It is estimated that, of those apartments, duplexes and associated common areas constructed between 1991 and 2013, the number that may be affected by one or more fire safety, structural safety or water ingress defects is likely to range between 50% and 80%. That equates to between 60,000 and 100,000 apartments and duplexes. It is estimated that the average cost will be approximately €25,000 per unit, which means a potential cost to the Exchequer of €1.5 billion to €2.5 billion.

This is a significant piece of work that we have to do. It is much greater than would have been the case with pyrite, for example. We are working on it as a matter of priority.

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