A Fire Safety Notice is being served on apartments at Longboat Quay in Dublin this evening, setting a deadline for completion of essential fire safety works.  

If these are not carried out within the time frame, the 900 residents face being evacuated.

Dublin City Council has not revealed what the time frame is, but it is likely to be a number of months.

The Longboat Quay management company say they have not yet formally received any notice from Dublin Fire Brigade.

Meanwhile, Longboat Quay Owners and Residents group have said an offer from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority towards the remedial works is wholly unacceptable and they dispute the figures. 

The DDDA says they are putting up €2.75 million.

The Authority says this leaves owners with a bill of €2m, while owners say the remaining cost could be €2.5m.

Part of the DDDA's contribution comes from €1m already spent on the fire alarm system and a €250,000 loan write-off.

Owners also say the only formal offer they have received is for €750,000 from the DDDA, while an expected offer of €750,000 from the receiver, Duff & Phelps, has not yet been received.

They say while they welcome the offer, it is wholly unacceptable.

A statement from the DDDA earlier this evening said it, together with the receiver, will pay €2.75m of the cost.

This includes around €1m already spent on the fire safety alarm system.

The 900 residents in Longboat Quay say they are in a nightmare scenario as they face a massive bill to fix fire safety problems at the complex.

After initially being told to come up with €4m, owners are being told this evening that the nominal landlord, the DDDA, and the receiver will pay €2.75m in total.

This leaves owners with a bill of €2m between them.

Dublin City Council has said it will begin proceedings to evacuate the building if funds are not secured to begin the remedial works.

Today the National Asset Management Agency also told the Public Accounts Committee that it had spent multi-millions fixing another development by the same builder, Bernard McNamara.

Meanwhile, Martin McAleese has resigned from his position as independent chair of the Priory Hall Implementation Oversight Group in the wake of the news regarding Longboat Quay.

Mr McAleese owns a property at Longboat Quay and in a statement said the parallels with the Priory Hall development make his position untenable.

An owner and former resident of the apartment complex has said the Government has an obligation to help the owners and residents.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Séan O'Rourke, Erica McKerrow-Berthon said the Government must step in to help the apartment owners.

"We're not responsible for the problems that have happened."

"I'm sure I'm like a lot of other owners of the apartments, I will not pay and I will stand outside and I will picket but I am not paying for somebody else’s mistakes," said Ms McKerrow-Berthon.

"There's a problem in our stupid laws that protect people who build things and can walk away from them just because they're bankrupt, because it's not possible to go after somebody legally, doesn't make what they have done moral.

"And the Government has an obligation to help us."

Chartered building surveyor Val O’Brien said corners were cut in relation to building regulations prior to 2014.

Mr O'Brien said that at the time of the building of the Longboat Quay complex, the regulations in place were not as effective as they are today.

"They didn't have the system of periodic inspections throughout the course of the works," said Mr O'Brien. 

"So, nobody was checking it and policing it and developers were allowed to carry on with building that they thought was correct, not necessarily aware of the technical details and unfortunately corners were cut."

The owners and residents want to have meetings with the Minister of the Environment and with the Lord Mayor of Dublin, according to a issued statement today.

The statement on behalf of Longboat Quay owners and residents said the management board for the complex met with Dublin Fire Brigade yesterday, who re-confirmed that there was no immediate risk of evacuation.

"We, the owners and residents of Longboat Quay, find ourselves in a nightmare scenario, whilst not of our own making, it is now our responsibility to find a solution," the statement also said.

"Last year, serious fire safety issues were identified in the development, which will cost approximately €4m to rectify. We, the owners, do not have the money to fund these costs and the situation has now reached crisis point.

"Dublin Fire Brigade has written to the Management Company, Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) and the Receiver to advise that it needs to see a plan that commits to carrying out the necessary remedial works in a short time scale."

NAMA Chief Executive Brendan McDonagh, meanwhile, has told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee that the agency has spent "multi millions" fixing serious issues with another major block built by Longboat Quay developer Bernard McNamara.

A spokesperson for NAMA said it was not disclosing the name of the development.

On Longboat Quay, he said negotiations were ongoing to reach agreement for the receiver to make a "meaningful" contribution towards meeting the costs of the works.

This money would come from NAMA. He said Longboat Quay had to be fixed and it was a terrible situation. 

NAMA acquired 18 apartments in Longboat Quay when it appointed receivers.