Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
67. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the provision of interim funding for fire safety defects in apartments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32732/23]
View answer68. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the provision of emergency funding for homeowners with fire safety and other structural defects to address immediate fire safety and other structural defects risks in their properties pending the opening of the formal redress scheme for owners with Celtic Tiger era building defects. [33133/23]
View answer94. Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if interim funding has been decided on for those who are currently facing defective issues in their dwellings. [32358/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 67, 68 and 94 together.
Since the receipt of Government approval in January of this year, I have been working to progress the various programmes of work that are required to place the scheme to establish supports for the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013 on a statutory footing.
A key aspect of this work is the development of a Code of Practice, in the context of the Fire Services Acts, to provide guidance to relevant professionals, including guidance on interim safety measures. I expect to be in a position to publish this Code of Practice for public consultation in the coming weeks.
This Code of Practice will be a key feature on which the operation of the statutory scheme will be based. It will support the development of a reasonable and practicable approach to resolving fire safety defects, and to ensure a consistent approach nationwide to remediation. While the Code of Practice will apply to the remediation of fire-safety defects, it could be built upon in regard to the remediation of structural and water-ingress defects in due course.
The scheme will incorporate a means or methodology, based on the Code of Practice, for prioritising the allocation and nature of support and funding, to ensure that the highest risk buildings will be the first to be supported.
In order to ensure that important life-safety works are not paused, remediation works related to fire safety defects, entered into or commenced from 18 January 2023, will form part of the remediation scheme, subject to terms and conditions. The details of this process are being worked out as a priority in parallel with the Code of Practice.
The scheme will be administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis and interaction and interdependency with local authority fire services and others is being considered, with the remediation of fire safety defects carried out to the satisfaction of the local authority fire services. An advice and information service and portal within the Housing Agency is in the process of being established.
In addition, work is also underway to draft the required legislation, which will include the scope, eligibility and conditions of the remediation scheme. While I am working on the development of the scheme as a matter of priority, sufficient time is required to draft the legislation to ensure that the scheme is fit for purpose, provides value for tax payer’s money and contains appropriate oversight and governance measures.
