Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I ask that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage give the House an update on the redress scheme for defective apartments. Throughout the country families, through no fault of their own, are living in apartments and houses that are unsafe. They are living the real-life effects of the light-touch regulation that successive Governments presided over. Recently I met with residents in Hunters Wood who have had to have their balconies removed because they are defective and unsafe to stand on. They are at their wits’ end and do not know how they are going to be able to fund the works. Likewise residents in Park West have been in touch outlining how they are being asked for €15,000 per year for three years and then a further €8,000 in the fourth year. How on earth are families expected to find more than €15,000 while paying their mortgages and struggling with a cost-of-living crisis? They are being told that if they do not put up the money they will not get the fire safety certificate and they could be moved out of their apartments.

Families need clarity on the redress scheme. They need to know it will be 100% redress and that it will be retrospective for those homeowners who have paid thousands of euro just so that they can remain in their homes. Families need to know that there will be interim measures for those living in unsafe buildings. We are all realists and know it is not going to be possible because, unfortunately, we are dealing with hundreds of thousands of defective homes. That is again down to the light-touch regulation and not any fault of the homeowners. It will not be possible for all of them to be dealt with and processed immediately and, therefore, what they need are interim measures so that those living in the most unsafe buildings will not be made homeless.What they need to hear is that, as a bare minimum, fire wardens will be employed so that they can remain living in those buildings. We need to hear from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage as to what is happening with the redress scheme because these families simply cannot wait.