Deputy Emer Higgins, TD for Dublin Mid West, has welcomed the government approval of a provisional scheme to provide redress to people living in apartments with fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects. The legislation will provide a statutory basis for the establishment of a remediation scheme aimed at protecting the safety and welfare of those living in apartments or duplexes with such defects that occurred during construction between 1991 and 2013.
Deputy Higgins said: “Unfortunately, there are quite a few apartments in the local area that are plagued by construction defects, through no fault of the owner or the renter. “I have been engaging closely with impacted residents in the area as well as the construction defects alliance and I really welcome that we now have a plan for providing redress to those living in defective apartments. “The proposed measures will ensure people who have already paid or are paying towards remediation costs will be included and buildings posing the highest risk will be prioritised for remediation first.
“A whole building approach will be taken, ensuring common areas and shared spaces are also remediated where required to the relevant standard,” deputy Higgins continued. “There are some significant legacy issues in the area and apartment residents are facing huge financial burdens and massive bills to fix these issues which were never their fault to begin with. “I know from engaging with local people who have been affected that this has caused a massive amount of stress and anxiety and I’m glad that we now have a plan to provide them with the redress they deserve. “It will also be important that we continue to strengthen our building control system so that similar issues don’t arise in the future,” concluded Deputy Higgins.
