2026-05-19

143. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the Celtic tiger-era building defects redress scheme and the interim fire safety remediation scheme. [37769/26]

The Minister previously informed us that it was his intention to have the legislation to underpin the Celtic tiger-era defects redress scheme not just introduced but passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas by the summer, with the objective that homeowners and owners' management companies could apply for inclusion in the scheme before the end of the year. Obviously, that legislation has not been published. Can he give an update on when it will be published and when he expects to have it passed by the Oireachtas and open to applicants?

Government approval was received on 18 September 2024 for the priority drafting of the apartment and duplex defects remediation Bill. The purpose of the legislation is to place the defects remediation scheme on a statutory footing, further to commitments contained in the programme for Government. The Bill will provide supports for the remediation of relevant fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. It is envisaged that 100% of eligible remediation costs will be funded in the relevant apartments and duplexes. An interim remediation scheme has been in place since December 2023 to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending the introduction of the statutory scheme and completion of the full remedial works. As of the end of April 2026, 264 applications for the interim remediation scheme had been validated, having met the eligibility criteria. These applications represent 22,607 residential units, with circa 75% in the Dublin region. As part of the interim scheme process, a number of pathfinder projects were identified to help inform the development of the legislation. I have just recently approved the final pathfinder project and all four projects across Dublin city centre, Portmarnock, west Dublin and Kilcock are now approved for funding from my Department in the amount of €24 million. Remediation works have commenced or will be commencing shortly in each case. In February 2026, the Government announced some significant amendments to the interim scheme in order to simplify procurement and cut through administrative hurdles, allowing works relating to fire detection and alarm systems to be completed more quickly, while ensuring residents can remain safely in their homes until full building remediation is finished. I am very conscious that a large number of homeowners in affected apartment developments have, on their own initiative-----

I thank the Minister.

I appreciate the answer, although none of that is new information. The specific question I asked was when this legislation will be published. When does the Minister expect it to complete its passage through the Oireachtas? When does he hope owners’ management companies will be able to apply? With respect to the interim scheme, I appreciate that finally four pathfinder projects have been approved, but that relates to over 200 schemes that desperately need this funding and it has been two years or more since the scheme was originally agreed in principle by the Government. Will the Minister give us some clarity on when the legislation will be published, when it will be passed and when it will be open to applications, and some indication of the extent to which he will be able to accelerate funding approval for more of the 22,000 homes that urgently need interim fire safety funding?

In terms of the timeline, all I can say is we will move this as quickly as possible. I wanted to get those interim schemes in place, and in particular the supports around fire safety. I also brought a memorandum to Government on 21 April 2026 on retrospection. Approval was received on a number of policy recommendations around retrospective grant payments. These recommendations will inform the ongoing drafting of the legislation. I can confirm works have been completed at 50 eligible perimeters of the scheme and these costs will be reimbursed. The general scheme of the Bill completed pre-legislative scrutiny in January. As the Deputy will know, drafting of the Bill has been progressed and I very much hope to be in a position to publish the Bill before the summer recess. Beyond that, I intend to move as quickly as I possibly can.

I thank the Minister for that clarity. One assumes that while the Minister may publish before the summer recess, it is likely the Bill will only come before the Oireachtas in the autumn. It is fair to say, to give some clarity to owners' management companies, that that means it is highly unlikely a scheme will open for applications this year, and it will more likely be next year. With respect to the memo the Minister spoke about regarding retrospective pathfinders, there was some media commentary that there might have been some consideration of the issue of caps. Can the Minister give us some assurance that no caps will be included in the overall scheme and that where the issue of caps is being discussed with respect to procurement challenges for retrospective payments, he is hoping to find a solution so nobody is out of pocket and they get the full cost remediation, whether retrospectively or into the future?

The aim here is that people will not be out of pocket. There will not be caps. We are trying to do it in such a way that we can move as quickly as possible. There are some challenges around tender limits and how we can address that in a way that allows people to move far more quickly, but there are no overall caps on it. In terms of any submissions on what the costs will be, the Department will look at that to ensure it meets what needs to be done to help these people. The Deputy is correct; if we publish the Bill before the summer, it will be debated in the autumn. I will aim to have it passed by Christmas. Obviously, that will be a challenge in terms of timelines but we will try to drive it as quickly as possible.