Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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10. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on the progress of the legislation to underpin the apartment defects remediation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35771/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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36. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide an update on the defects remediation scheme for apartment owners. [35765/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Minister will be well aware of the anguish, worry and stalled lives of families living in apartments with structural defects, be they fire safety issues or water leakages, which they experience through no fault of their own. The defective apartment remediation scheme is a lifeline that will finally allow these families to move on.

The Minister will appreciate how important that particular scheme is. We need a clear timeline for the legislation and a drawdown date for the money for both the statutory and the interim remediation schemes.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 36 together.

The drafting of the apartment and duplex defects remediation Bill is progressing. Various issues requiring legal advice are under consideration. The Bill is included in the Government legislation summer programme and I intend to seek Government approval to publish it shortly. The general scheme will be made available to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny as soon as is practicable and I anticipate this happening in autumn 2025. When established, the statutory scheme will provide supports for the remediation of relevant fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. It is envisaged that 100% of eligible remediation costs will be funded under the scheme.

The interim remediation scheme for the funding of emergency fire safety defect works in apartments and duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013, opened to applications from owners' management companies on 11 December 2023. The interim remediation scheme is being administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis and provides for the full funding of interim measures to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending completion of the full remedial works under the statutory scheme. As of 31 May 2025, a total of 207 applications to the interim remediation scheme are being progressed across 29 local authorities, representing a total of 19,574 residential units.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister. There are three real elements here. There is the statutory scheme, which will look after fire safety, structural issues and water ingress. The interim remediation scheme is solely for fire safety works. We then have the pathfinder projects, which are under way and are probably a subcategory of the interim remediation scheme. Has any money been paid out under the four pathfinder projects or under the interim remediation scheme? If not, when does the Minister expect money to be paid out under those schemes?

There is an issue to do with EU public procurement on the interim remediation scheme. I was talking to someone who was at an AGM of their management company recently who was told no money is being paid out because it is caught up in EU issues. Will the Minister explain clearly what the procurement issue is, when it will be addressed and when money will be drawn down under the interim scheme?

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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We know this is a crucially important matter, given that defects were first detected in 2011. The scheme is intended to cover apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013. I accept that an interim remediation scheme was introduced, but this was for the first of the fire safety defects, which still leaves thousands of apartments in need of remedial works. Families are being raised in some of these apartments.

Many of these homeowners are in my constituency and have been in touch to express their concern. I am sure the Minister has heard from a lot of the homeowners himself. Children are being raised in substandard conditions with problems such as water ingress, less serious fire hazards and structural defects. Will he confirm how many apartments have had remediation work carried out under the interim scheme? What is the latest estimate for the number of apartments and duplexes that will require remediation in total? Will he provide an estimation of when all of the work on all affected apartments and duplexes will be completed?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The aim is to get the work done as quickly as possible. Regarding the interim scheme, four pathfinder projects covering almost 600 residential units have been identified. These projects are progressing and will allow the mapping of the application of the remediation process into simple steps to identify the pinch points and their solutions and to provide consistency across the submissions by competent professions and related local authority fire services. The pathfinder projects identified some issues in terms of it. That was the whole idea of the pathfinder projects, as they progressed, to see where there was going to be pinch points where there may be issues with the remediation scheme.

The Department is working with the Housing Agency to co-ordinate and oversee the administration of this scheme. There have been some issues, including with tendering. We got some clarification on that today, but I am happy to brief both Deputies on any further clarification and on progress. It is being updated on a daily basis at this point. We can try to resolve the tender issue without it leading to further delay. The indication last week was that it might lead to some significant delay. The sense is that this has been rectified but I will have further clarity in the coming days. It is a live issue at the moment. I am happy to keep both Deputies updated as we move along on it.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I appreciate the Minister's offer of a briefing. I will certainly take him up on that because residents are really worried. They are getting this information from their management company, which says there is a blockage. The Minister made a number of comments that if any of them are listening will probably make them even more nervous in terms of delay. There needs to be clarity. I accept his point that it is a live situation, but it is really important to understand. My understanding is that no money has been drawn down under the interim scheme as yet. The Minister might clarify that in his concluding reply. I will definitely take a briefing on the interim scheme.

There was some newspaper coverage over the weekend, based on documents prepared by the Minister's officials, that stated there was a belief that the scheme would open to applications before the end of the year. If the Minister is saying he wants to bring it to pre-legislative scrutiny in the autumn, I presume that was a massively optimistic read of the situation. Are we looking at a drawdown date in 2026 for the statutory scheme? Will he confirm whether he expects the statutory scheme to be up and running in 2025 or 2026?

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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It was recently reported in the media that the remediation scheme will not come into effect until 2027. Will he give an assurance that this is not the case and that the scheme will actually commence in 2026? We cannot have a repeat of the defective blocks scheme fiasco, the details of which we do not need to go into. Will he guarantee there will be 100% redress for all apartment and duplex owners? Will he guarantee there will be a full refund scheme for anyone who has had to undertake remediation works at his or her own expense while waiting for the scheme to commence? The latest update we received on this was that the Government had agreed in principle to give 100% refunds. Will he confirm that this will definitely be the case? I will also take the Minister up on his offer of giving me an update along with Deputy O'Gorman.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge that there has been some delay with the drafting. Some of that has arisen as a result of the Housing Agency receiving legal advice outlining the provision of the funding by the agency to oversee it is likely to trigger a requirement to comply with public procurement law. The Attorney General subsequently confirmed the need to align the application process in compliance with EU procurement rules. The application process has subsequently been amended and the dynamic purchasing system for appointment of competent professionals has been developed for launch within the next few years. Contract builders will now be procured via the e-tender system using a public works contract. This change and other clarifications have led to the delayed drafting of the Bill.

I understand these people are living in a sense of fear. I have engaged with several of these families and the representative body. I am determined to get this resolved. I do not want this delayed any further. I am personally dealing with this situation because I understand the stress and the worry that people are going through. We will get this resolved as quickly as possible. No funding has been drawn down yet.