Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter today. On 26 April, apartment owners in a particular complex in Dublin South-Central were informed by the management company that they were each going to be levied with a fee of €32,000 for construction defects in the complex to cover the work needed to bring it up to the correct fire safety standards. Of that sum, €7,000 must be paid by the first week of June. Regardless of their circumstances, they have been levied with this amount. The cause of this deficit is being borne by the apartment owners. It is a result of the self-regulation system that was at the core of construction in the Celtic tiger years. Homeowners are not to blame yet they are the ones being obliged to find these eye-watering sums to rectify something that was most certainly was not of their doing. I received several emails from residents of this particular complex. I will read an extract from one of them in which the writer states:

I am a single, working mother, paying a mortgage and trying to keep my head above water as the cost of living soars. All my life I have tried to do the right thing, I work fulltime ... and have never before looked to my politicians for help. To be landed with a bill of 32,000Euro , which I consider a life -altering amount, is quite simply beyond my capabilities and I am so distraught and stressed over it that I really don't know what to do or who to turn to. How is any normal person supposed to face this?

Institutional landlords and private landlords get to write this cost off against tax and yet normal owner-occupiers have to pony up such huge amounts without any support, as yet. However, it is unconscionable and an issue that must be addressed urgently. These homeowners need a resolution. I appreciate there is a working group and I can almost predict the speech the Minister of State will give in response. I am conscious the working group is ongoing. It is due to report by June, one would hope. Presumably its report will make a redress recommendation that will then go to Cabinet and be hammered out in the budget negotiations. That is all of our hope in this situation. However, it is too long for the homeowners I have mentioned. If a redress scheme is envisaged, then why can we not look at an interim one? We all agree some sort of scheme is going to happen here. In light of mica and pyrite there is going to have to be an apartment owners redress scheme. If we know that, why can we not establish some sort of State loan or give letters of comfort, on the back of which those homeowners can be guaranteed to go to credit unions? Why can we not set up some sort of system like that, such that loans will be repaid out of tax allowances or some other way for the homeowners to be reimbursed?

I wish this complex was the only one in Dublin South-Central but unfortunately it is not. Pretty much every email I get in asks me not to mention the name because they are now terrified their properties cannot be sold. They are in a dire situation. I appreciate also that next week, the Minister is going to bring a memo to Cabinet on the defective blocks redress scheme. In light of that we know that where homeowners have been caught out through what was a deficit in construction oversight, the State is going to put in redress. On the back of that, I ask that we put in some sort of a system that supports these homeowners in that interim period.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for being delayed. We were voting in the Dáil. I thank the Senator. This is a very important issue. It is a very distressing position for those she represents to be in, as she has quite rightly articulated. I have met a number of homeowners in my own constituency who are unfortunately faced with similar problems because of defects in properties delivered to them, defects that were no fault of their own. It is very frustrating. There are a number of such cases right around the country.

In recognition of the difficulties faced by residents who are encountering defects in housing, the programme for Government sets out a number of commitments in respect of the important policy area of addressing building defects. Housing for All, the Government's national plan on housing to 2030, reiterates this commitment. In this context, my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, established a working group to examine defects in housing under the chairmanship of Mr. Seamus Neely, the former chief executive of Donegal County Council. The plenary working group has been meeting monthly since March 2021, with the exception of August. In addition, regular sub-group meetings have been taking place to advance elements of the work. The group's terms of reference are focused on purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed in Ireland between 1991 and 2013.

In summary, the terms of reference are: to examine defects in housing having regard to the recommendations under heading 4, "Addressing the legacy of bad building and poor regulation", in chapter 4 of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government's report entitled "Safe as Houses? A Report on Building Standards, Building Controls and Consumer Protection"; to establish the nature of significant and widespread fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013; to establish the scale of the issue, including work to estimate the number of dwellings affected by the defects identified, including those already remediated; to consider a methodology for the categorisation of defects and the prioritisation of remedial action; to suggest mechanisms for resolving defects; to evaluate the potential cost of technical remediation options; and to pursue options on possible financial solutions to effect a resolution in line with the programme for Government commitment to identify options for those impacted by defects to access low-cost, long-term finance. That last point was one of the key components of the argument the Senator put forward for her area.

As part of its deliberations, the working group has consulted with a wide range of relevant stakeholders. The insights gained through engagement with stakeholders, as well as the outcome of an online consultation undertaken earlier this year, will inform the ongoing deliberations of the working group and support the group in delivering on its extensive terms of reference and finalising its report to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. I have sought an update from the Minister, who has said that he is satisfied that the group is working effectively and efficiently on this very complex matter. He awaits the group's report, to be delivered later this year when it has concluded its deliberations. I wish assure the Senator that work is ongoing in that regard.

I understand the pressures these people are facing. The same pressures are present in my own constituency. Solutions are needed quite quickly because of the great liability being placed on ordinary families through no fault of their own. I will raise the issue with the Minister again. If the Senator would like to detail the specific issue in her area, I can raise that with him as well.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. This is an issue in everybody's constituency. The worrying aspect is not just that homeowners are barred from the possibility of sale or the costs involved, but also that there are insurance issues. These homeowners cannot get insurance on their properties.

The management companies of some of these complexes are now insolvent because they have spent their sinking funds. Some homeowners are withholding funds from these management companies. They are not paying because they are not going to get services and are nervous about their own financial well-being. As a consequence, common areas are not being refurbished and lighting is not being maintained.

All of the things that flow from this issue are really urgent. Using words like "later this year" in respect of the timeline makes me very anxious and suggests there is not the level of urgency that is needed in this regard. Unfortunately, these homeowners are not as vocal as the mica and pyrite people. They are not outside at the gates because they are terrified and broke.The fact they do not mobilise should not take from anything. We must insist they are at the top of the political agenda, that they are being heard and their issue is being addressed urgently.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I take the Senator's point very seriously. In the first instance, we must capture exactly the extent of this issue right across the country and also in terms of the budget that will underpin what will be a significant remediation scheme. I would point to the many legacy issues with which we are still grappling post the previous decade and more, including that we are trying to establish the professional register for building contractors, which will assure people into the future of a standard of quality assurance in the work they contract builders to do. Much of that good work is ongoing. It will improve matters.

I appreciate the point the Senator has made. I have met a delegation from my constituency on many occasions who have sought to further advance this issue which, in their position, relates to fire safety, which is also a very serious matter. People potentially could be at risk from the outbreak of a fire. I will do my best to pressure the Department as much as I can in this regard. I understand it is a genuine issue. It is a major debt to force upon ordinary constituents which can be very difficult to discharge. As a State, we need to step up to wrongdoing which is not due to any fault of the apartment owners.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State and the Senator.