Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2019
638. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the progress made to date on a wider fire safety review of buildings at risk here as part of the response to the Grenfell Tower disaster; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42101/19]
View answerOn 27 June 2017, following the fire in London’s Grenfell Tower, I tasked my Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) with convening and coordinating a high-level Task Force to lead a re-appraisal of fire safety in Ireland. The Task Force completed its work, and provided me with a full report in May 2018, entitled “Fire Safety in Ireland: Report of the Fire Safety Task Force”, which outlines its analysis, conclusions on the state of fire safety in Ireland and recommendations for moving forward.
Importantly, the overall indications from the work are that the specific conditions which appear to have existed in Grenfell Tower do not exist in buildings in this country.
In the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, I also instructed local authorities to undertake a review of fire safety in medium-to-high rise buildings fitted with cladding systems. I asked the Task Force to oversee and report on this initial action, as well as, among other things, reviewing existing arrangements and systems for fire safety and related issues which impact on fire safety in Ireland.
Fire authorities were asked to identify medium to high-rise buildings in their functional areas of more than six storeys or more than 18 metres in height.
The most recent figures provided by fire authorities indicate that:
- 838 buildings have been identified, countrywide, at this height,
- 287 of these buildings are fitted with cladding systems,
- fire authorities required fire safety assessments in 210 cases – 103 residential buildings, and 107 non-residential,
- 167 fire safety assessments have been received by fire authorities; work to complete and report the fire safety assessments in 36 buildings is underway; from their knowledge, fire services have not determined that any cases merit ceasing of use/occupation of the buildings in question,
- further action in respect of fire safety was found to be required in 49 buildings where fire safety concerns were identified – a small number of these cases involved issues with cladding.
This fire safety assessment and follow-up work is on-going, and is being overseen by fire authorities, who are reporting on progress to the NDFEM in my Department.
The Task Force report makes a range of recommendations for improvements to fire safety in buildings, and to provision of fire services in Ireland.
In response to the Task Force recommendations, the NDFEM Board has brought forward a number of initiatives, including proposals for regulatory provisions and guidance for ensuring fire safety in buildings, and for fire services.
Copies of both the Report and the Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations are available on my Department’s website at the following links:
Fire Safety Task Force Report:
http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/fire_safety_in_ireland_-_report_of_the_fire_safety_task_force.pdf .
Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations:
http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/fire_safety_in_ireland_-_report_summary_of_conclusions_and_recommendations.pdf .
