Major rift in working group examining fire safety defects in apartment buildings

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien was told the scope of the terms is too low. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

A major rift has broken out in the working group examining fire safety defects in apartment buildings, over whether the Government is committed to setting up a redress scheme for the afflicted homeowners. 

Correspondence seen by the Irish Examinershows that a representative for the homeowners on the group believes the terms of reference (TOR) had been pre-determined by the Department of Housing, rather than established by the group, which is supposed to be independent of government.

Ciara Holland of the Construction Defects Alliance wrote to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, claiming the scope of the terms is too narrow.

Ms Holland criticised a rewording of the original TOR which read: “To pursue options with stakeholders on possible financial solution to effect a resolution."

After protracted negotiations, the relevant term now reads: “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.” 

The emphasis on low-cost finance indicates that a preferred route of resolution would be to organise loans rather than set up a redress scheme.

The Safe as Houses report, published by the Oireachtas committee on housing in 2018, recommended a redress scheme for apartment owners where fire safety defects had been uncovered. The committee was told in 2019 that up to 90,000 apartments built during the Celtic Tiger years had fire safety defects and the total cost of remediation could top €1bn. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing responded to queries about the row over the terms of reference by laying out the terms and noting that on completion of its work, the working group will submit a report to the minister.