Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not have to tell everyone there is a crisis in housing as not only do we see the homeless figures climbing but we have mistakes for which we are now paying. Too many apartment blocks were built to poor standards. We have a tortured history in how we built accommodation. To be fair, it seems to me that the co-living scheme, which is being touted as the solution to all our problems, is the Government getting in on the Airbnb market by restricting the private service and building what to all intents and purposes is a short-term accommodation block that will make money for the Government but will not provide high-standard forever homes for people. This is why we need to ensure this legislation is not hoodwinking anyone.

We in Fianna Fáil support the establishment of a remedial fund to support latent defects in developments prior to 2009. This will help address fire safety issues without unfairly penalising apartment owners. Low-cost loans should be made available to owner management companies to allow them to undertake any required remedial work. In addition, we need to reform sinking fund provisions and owner management company provisions to help ensure adequate supports are in place to address fire safety issues into the future. It is only fair that I mention that Fianna Fáil has legislation on these issues, which the Government should support because it is good legislation.

There have been a number of high-profile cases involving fire safety issues, such as Priory Hall, Longboat Quay, the docklands and the closure of new school buildings that had fire issues. These cases cause concern for everybody, not only those who are immediately impacted. The horrific case of the Grenfell Tower fire taught many authorities across the globe valuable lessons.

I welcomed the news that a task force was to lead a reappraisal of our approach to fire and safety in Ireland was convened. Now that it has completed its report, I agree that we need to keep up to speed on all fire safety assessment processes and sanction any improvement works necessary. We need to provide the tools, however, for this task. We need to highlight the statutory responsibility of the person having control of both public and private sector premises as set out in section 18 of the Fire Services Act.

The task force recommended, and I wholeheartedly agree, that we need to clarify and make explicit the statutory obligations imposed on the persons having control, as well as introducing a number of new reporting mechanisms through which the fire safety arrangements in place in premises and sleeping accommodation are brought to the attention of the public, including a new requirement for a public notice of fire safety in every building to which section 18(2) of the Fire Services Act applies.. We need a more robust consumer concentrated approach to building and maintaining housing developments. We need to educate people on what they need to do to protect themselves and we need to really drive home the message of personal responsibility.

I have raised an issue, which was recommended by the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government, that local authorities should never be allowed to self-certify their own social housing development. This should be contracted out via a building standards and consumer protection agency and there should be a bar on the awarding of publicly-funded construction projects tenders to the developers, builders or associated construction professionals found to be in serious breach of building standards or fire safety regulations.This, to me, is crucial. We have serious issues in this country. We need to improve how we communicate to people and how we educate them. We have got to stop this. I am referring to a certain website. This is a massive concern for me. When I ring up, I am told to look on one website or another. We need to be clear and firm so that we can prevent loss of life in all we do. These are my concerns. I believe everything we do in the future will be in the best interests of everybody. Fire is a major issue for people. I know the Minister will take my concerns and issues on board.