The leader of the Labour Party has said that "up to 80% of apartments built between 1991 and 2013" may be affected by construction defects.
Speaking during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil, Ivana Bacik said it is expected that a report on defective homes, which is due be concluded next week, will show that "up to 100,000 apartments have been affected by fire safety and other defects - with up to 44,000 in the process of being remediated right now".
Ms Bacik described the scale of the problem as "immense", affecting every county in Ireland but was particularly "acute" in constituencies in the capital such as Dún Laoghaire, Dublin Fingal and Dublin Bay South.
The Tánaiste said that while he has not seen the report, he believes there will "have to be Government assistance" for people, who through no fault of their own, purchased apartments in buildings where there are defects.
Leo Varadkar said this was an important issue which he was "very familiar" with in his own constituency and one which the Government would have to respond to - like it did for homeowners affected by pyrite and mica.
Ms Bacik said there were substantial health and safety concerns for people continuing to live in defective buildings, and she called for "refundable tax credits" to be introduced in Budget 2023 for those who were paying for remediation works.
Mr Varadkar said he recognised that many people in such circumstances were living in a "terrible limbo" because in any apartment blocks there were people who would pay for remediation; some who could not pay; and people would not pay.
