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

To answer Deputy Ó Broin's question, duplexes within multi-unit developments are included.

The onus is on the purchaser when purchasing a property to ensure the property is surveyed properly. With regard to properties that are sold on, survey work should obviously be done before someone purchases a home. This happened in the pyrite and infill schemes where people genuinely did not know. People may find themselves in the position Deputy O'Callaghan highlighted due to poor professional advice or for other reasons. That was dealt with in the pyrite and infill scheme where the "should have known" clause was effectively set aside on the basis of appeal. I would expect people to be able to apply to the scheme.

A very serious issue relates to some OMCs that are not engaging. Residents can engage and the Housing Agency will assist in that. Most multi-unit developments will have a managing agent. We have been dealing with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, SCSI, on a regular basis to make sure the agents are fully au faitwith what is now available. To be fair, all Deputies in the House and the members of the housing committee, including Deputies Ó Broin and Cian O'Callaghan, agree that the absolute priority is families and people's safety. It is crucial we deal with the fire safety piece first.

With regard to cost, I do not have a handle on the overall cost. What was interesting from the working group report was that while fire safety issues were the predominant issues, these were, on average, lower cost. That very much varies from apartment to apartment. We were looking at an average cost overall, between structural defects, water ingress and fire safety, of approximately €26,000 per unit but that varies greatly depending on the works. I know of apartment developments where fire safety work has been done and the cost per apartment has been in the low thousands. The works could involve rectifying breaks between apartments and things like that, whereas other works can be more difficult.

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