Dispute stalls €2.5bn remediation scheme for up to 100,000 defective apartments

Darragh O’Brien will meet representatives of local authorities tomorrow.  Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

A €2.5bn remediation scheme to fix up to 100,000 defective Celtic Tiger-era apartments has been stalled by a dispute between the Government and local authorities over resources to carry out the work.

The scheme, which was set up last December after nearly a decade in the making, was to focus initially on apartment blocks deemed to have ongoing fire-safety dangers. 

Around 130 management companies or individuals have applied under the emergency part of the scheme but none has been sanctioned for remedial work to begin.

The delay is due to the failure of local authorities to check whether the work is required immediately, as per the terms of the scheme. 

A number of local authorities have said they do not have the personnel to carry out this function and that they need extra resources.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, who set up the scheme, is to meet representatives from the local authorities tomorrow to try to get it back on track.

The issues have been raised repeatedly with his department in recent months and this week’s meeting is the latest attempt to address the concerns.

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The delay means legislation to give force to the full scheme is not now expected to pass before the end of the year.

The original timeline was to have a draft law in place in the first quarter and passage through the Oireachtas completed by the autumn, but this is now looking increasingly unlikely.

An investigation into the problems of fire-safety defects, structural defects, and water ingress in apartments built between 1991 and 2013 estimates that up to 100,000 units could be affected. 

The government scheme was announced in January 2023 and finalised in December.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said it has been working with local authority fire services “for some time to come up with a solution that would ensure they could fully engage with the scheme”.

“Discussions around this issue have so far been positive and productive and the minister expects the meeting to make further progress in this regard,” they said.

However, Pat Montague of the Construction Defects Alliance said a clear timeline for applicants to receive funding urgently needs to be worked out.

The fact that no apartment complexes have received any funding under the scheme has led to a lot of confusion and anxiety amongst applicants about why their applications seem to be stuck in this mire.

In January 2023 when the remediation scheme was being launched, the Government decided remediation works related to fire safety defects, entered into or begun from that point, would form part of the scheme. 

It said that such works would need to be agreed with local authority fire services and the details of this process would be worked out "as a priority" and provided in due course.