Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call Senator O'Loughlin, I welcome the guests of Senator Cassells, Senator Padraig Fitzsimons - I apologise; he is not yet a Senator but Councillor Fitzsimons - and Councillor Wayne Harding. They are accompanied by Senator Davitt. The guests are most welcome to the Seanad. Also in the Gallery are Deputy Bruton and Neil Cronin, who is a transition year, TY, student. Neil is most welcome. In addition, my nephew, Dylan Treyvaud, also a TY student, is here to observe how the Seanad works.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, to the House.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming all our guests, particularly Councillor Padraig Fitzsimons.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for accepting this Commencement matter. It concerns fire defects and the need to ensure housing estates such as Millfield in Newbridge are included in the Department's remediation scheme. Nine years ago, in March 2015, a blaze occurred in Newbridge that burned a terrace of six houses to the ground in just over half an hour.In that time, people's possessions were turned to dust. Luckily, only one resident was in situin the houses on the Millfield Manor estate on the afternoon the fire occurred. He got to safety, but if it had happened at night when more than 20 people lived in these six homes, there is every possibility that somebody would have died. Residents live with that threat every day. Not a family photograph or a stick of furniture survived the fire. Their homes, dreams and plans went up in flames. Every property owner in Millfield Manor is innocent, having bought in good faith and relied on the processes they believe existed in terms of planning and inspection. The developer took shortcuts and having made a quick buck, had gone into receivership by the time the fire occurred, leaving affected residents with absolutely nowhere to turn. Following on from this, as we know, an expert report was commissioned. This estimated that between 62,000 and 100,000 apartments or duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 may have defects that require remediation. I was pleased when the Government finally gave the go-ahead for a redress scheme during the summer, which is estimated to cost €2.5 billion. That is a huge amount of money, but it is a worthy scheme and a necessary payment for homeowners. I know it is expected that legislation to give force to that scheme will be enacted later this year.

Unfortunately, people living in houses in estates such as Millfield Manor have been left with nowhere to turn. The redress scheme is designed only for apartments and duplexes, not for houses. I find it very difficult to follow and understand that logic. Wayne Proctor, chair of Millfield Manor's residents association, has stated:

... we’re left out. No State agency whatsoever has come in and said they would assist us. We are being left completely on our own to address these defects that are dangerous.

I really struggle to understand how these houses are not included in the remediation scheme and how similar problems in other residential complexes are also not included.

Progress on this issue has been very slow. It is a major cause of worry and frustration for residents in Millfield and across the country. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, indicate why the six houses in Millfield that burned down as a result of fire defects and other affected homes are not included in the proposed scheme? Will consideration be given to amending any scheme to ensure that houses that should be included are included?

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Fiona O'Loughlin for raising this matter and for the opportunity to provide an update on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The Government is committed to helping homeowners affected by defects arising from the original date of construction to get their homes and lives back together. In December 2023, the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien announced the opening of an interim remediation scheme for fire safety defects in apartments and duplexes. The scheme provides for the funding of eligible emergency fire safety defects works in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings pending completion of the full remedial works. Apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 with eligible defects qualify for this scheme. Applications can be made by the owners' management companies on behalf of their members. Houses are not covered under this scheme.

In a multi-unit development, the head lease obliges the owner's management company to put in place insurance cover for all common areas. The common areas are those parts of the estate not owned by the individual owners and shared by all users, such as car parks, shared gardens, corridors and lifts. The common areas are owned by the owner's management company. In almost all circumstances, the owners of houses in a multi-unit development arrange their own private insurance.Claims for damages to such property must be made by the policyholder and handled by their own insurer. This is in contrast to apartments and duplexes within these developments, where the insurance is typically covered under a block policy. It is for this reason service charges levied on those type of homeowners, as I understand, are usually much higher than house owners in the same development.

I note the Senator is asking that these homes, which I believe burned down in 2016, were excluded from the current interim apartment defects scheme. However, as I understand from the Housing Agency, they have no record of an application from the owners’ management company of this development on behalf of house or apartment owners. In any event, matters relating to fire safety such as these are a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance. The Department of housing has put various support measures in place, including provision of considerable financial assistance to remediate their homes. In this regard, the pyrite remediation scheme and the defective concrete blocks grants scheme are both underpinned by legislation. There have also been wider State schemes offering financial support for homeowners for works other than these defects, such as lead pipe replacement, home improvement works and energy efficiency improvement works. These schemes are intended to bring homes to an acceptable standard and ensure they remain viable as part of the housing stock.

The scale of defects in apartments and duplexes is significant. It is estimated that between 62,500 and 100,000 apartments may be affected by one or more fire safety, structural safety or water ingress defects. Full remedial works, which will include all necessary fire safety measures as well as those related to water ingress and structural damage, will be funded under the forthcoming apartment and duplex defects remediation scheme, in respect of which the drafting of legislation is now well advanced. Following circulation of the draft heads of the general scheme and observations received, Government approval was given on 18 September 2024 for the priority drafting of the apartment and duplex defects remediation Bill.

I should have opened my remarks by issuing sympathies and support for the people in the houses that have been mentioned. Fortunately, very few people were there at the time the fire occurred. Nevertheless, as Senator O’Loughlin outlined, the trauma of everything a person ever owned and ever looked forward to sharing in the future being gone in 30 minutes is a destruction that will have long-term effects not just on the building but on the people themselves. It is to be hoped, through some of their own insurance policies, they will be able to get some work completed related to that.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I will make a few points. I am disappointed with the thrust of what the Minister of State said, that houses would not be included. I fail to understand why. The Minister of State made the point that the House Agency has no record of any application from the owners’ management company of this development. I will certainly check into that. He made the point that there is the pyrite remediation scheme and the defective concrete blocks grants scheme, which are important schemes, but they do not apply in this situation. These houses are timber frame construction. Apparently, a high degree of precision is needed to install the prefabricated inputs. It is widely reported that without a proper inspection regime, this precision was missing in Millfield Manor and similar estates. I still believe that houses such as Millfield Manor should be included, and I have written to the Minister for housing to say the same. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would bring that message back to the Minister.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I will certainly do as Senator O’Loughlin asked on behalf on these residents in Newbridge. It may not be an isolated case. It is the only the case I am aware of but it may have happened in other areas. I will bring it back to the Minister so the number of houses that have suffered damage during this period can be checked. There cannot be too many cases like this in the country. It would be good to have an idea, for future reference, how many houses are in some of these multi-unit development complexes with apartments and duplexes. I will certainly bring that point back to the Minister.I take the Senator's point that the schemes I mentioned were more of a general nature than specific to the particular area the Senator has highlighted on behalf of the people of Newbridge. She mentioned that because these homes have timber frames, by definition they would not be covered by some of these schemes.

I ask the people involved to check with their insurance companies to see is there an avenue for them to be covered. I do not know whether they have done that. I will bring the points the Senator has made on behalf of the residents in Newbridge to the Minister.