Homeowners are to raise concerns over potential caps on payments in a remediation scheme for defective Celtic Tiger-era apartment owners at a meeting with Department of Housing officials tomorrow.
The Government announced a redress scheme in 2023 for up to 100,000 apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013, which are beset by issues including fire safety concerns, water ingress and structural problems.
The €2.5 billion scheme is yet to come into operation with the Department of Housing saying it is still working to publish draft legislation by the summer.
Upon announcing the scheme, then housing minister Darragh O'Brien and taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that homeowners would be entitled to 100% redress, with costs already incurred also to be covered.
This came despite concern within the Departments of Public Expenditure and Finance over the cost of the scheme to the Exchequer.
However, a report in today's Irish Times suggests payments to homeowners could be capped. Payments under the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme - for homeowners in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Clare and Limerick with crumbling properties - are subject to a maximum grant cap.
The Department of Housing declined to be drawn on the specific issue of caps, but homeowners representative group, The Construction Defects Alliance, is to raise the issue at a scheduled meeting with department officials tomorrow.
"We note the story in today's Irish Times stating that there could be a cap on remediation scheme spending. We will be raising this matter at a meeting of the Stakeholder Forum tomorrow with senior officials from the Department of Housing. To be clear, any departure from the solemn undertakings given by government in the Dáil chamber would not be acceptable to us", said spokesperson Pat Montague.
"The uncertainty over possible caps could also create the very moral hazard flagged by the Government's own Working Group on this issue.
"Hundreds of owners' management companies around the country are currently raising money from members to fix fire safety defects to make their buildings safe for their residents. The payment of these levies will likely dry up now and remediation works will come to a halt until there is clarity about whether there will be a cap or not. Unfortunately, this could put people’s lives at risk", he added.
The Department of Housing said work continues to finalise the scheme.
"The General Scheme of the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill has undergone pre-legislative scrutiny, and it is currently being drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Details of the parameters for both prospective and retrospective works will be contained in the draft Bill which is expected to be published by the summer. Subject to the legislative process, the statutory scheme will be in place later this year", a department spokesperson said.
However, Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin called on Minister for Housing James Browne to clarify when the scheme will open for applications.
"The Oireachtas Housing Committee completed pre-legislative scrutiny on the general scheme of the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill in January this year," Mr Ó Broin said.
"At that stage we were told by the minister that he intended to introduce the bill in the spring and have the legislation complete all stages in the Oireachtas before the summer recess. This would allow the remediation scheme to be open to applications in 2026."
Deputy Ó Broin added how he harboured doubts over whether the matter will progress through the Oireachtas before the summer.
"If this is the case the minister needs to explain the reason for the delay and the impact on when the scheme will now be open for applications", he said.
He also called on the minister to clarify whether payments will be capped once the scheme is operational.
