Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am going to start by thanking Senator Seery Kearney for raising what is a really important issue. I will respond on behalf of our colleague, Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, who unfortunately cannot be here today. Last December, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien, announced the opening of the interim remediation scheme as the Senator outlined, for fire safety defects in eligible apartments and duplexes. The scheme provides for the funding of emergency fire safety defect works, in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending the completion of the full remedial works.

Apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 with eligible defects qualify for the scheme. The scheme, which has been administered by the housing agency on a nationwide basis, is open to applications via the housing agency's website. Given the current legal obligations and ownership of common areas, owner management companies, OMCs, will receive funding to carry out the necessary remediation works. Only applications from authorised representatives of OMCs will be considered and funding will not be directly allocated to any individual homeowner. Although only applications from authorised representatives of OMCs will be considered, I am advised that the process is designed in a way that OMCs will complete the application through the assistance of competent professionals such as engineers, architects and quantity surveyors, as well as local authority fire service personnel.

As of the end of last month, May 2024, 154 applications have been validated by the housing agency across 27 local authority areas, representing a total of 15,743 residential units. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has also been advancing the steps to put the remediation scheme on a statutory footing, as a matter of priority. Full remedial works, which will include all necessary fire safety measures as well as those relating to water ingress and structural damage, will be funded under the statutory scheme.

As regards the establishment of an interim non-statutory regulator for OMCs as has been raised here, I am told that it is important to point out that the owner management companies are already subject to company law provisions including their own memorandum of association. They are also subject to oversight by the company registration office and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. Furthermore, the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, or the MUDs Act as it is known, also acknowledges the risk of disputes arising in the enforcement of rights and the performance of obligations imposed by its provisions on OMCs. Section 24 of the MUDs Act makes provision for the resolution of such disputes. A non-statutory regulator would have no lawful authority over any entity and so establishing such a regulator would be of no practical effect. Given the challenges arising in the context of the interim scheme and the proposed statutory scheme, Deputy McEntee and Deputy O'Brien have agreed to establish an interdepartmental group to consider what further regulatory measures are required for OMCs.