Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 19 Sep 2024

It is almost two years since the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, made a commitment to introduce an interim fire safety remediation scheme for people impacted by Celtic tiger-era defects. That scheme opened almost a year ago. As the Minister knows, it has beset by significant delays, many of which, in my view, are of the Minister’s making. Can the Minister give an update on where the interim scheme is, the total number of applicants and the total number of eligible homes? Crucially, can he confirm whether any multi-unit development will see fire safety work commence and finish before the end of the year?

The interim fire safety scheme is in place now. It is a complex arrangement. At the outset, I thank the stakeholders and the residents in particular, including the Construction Defects Alliance, the Apartment Owners Network and Not Our Fault, which have engaged in a really constructive manner.

Yesterday, I received Government approval for the priority drafting of the main scheme legislation, the apartment and duplex defects remediation Bill 2024. This Bill will complement the interim measures the Government has already put in place to fund eligible emergency fire safety defect works in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending completion of the full remedial works under the statutory scheme.

In this regard, since the interim scheme was launched in December 2023, in the period to the end of August, we received 171 applications from owner management companies, OMCs, which have been validated. That represents more than 17,000 residential units spread across 27 local authority areas and for Members' information, 78% of applicants are in the Dublin area.

My Department works very closely with our stakeholders, particularly our residents, the chief fire officers and the local government sector. In April of this year, we agreed to bring forward pathfinder schemes because we have to work through the process on the interim measures. We selected four appropriate pathfinder projects. They were identified under the scheme. Three of those are situated in the Dublin area involving three local authorities. One of the projects is in Kildare. These projects vary in size and complexity. They will provide and are providing valuable insights across resource identification, standardisation of documents and process efficiencies.

Intense engagement has taken place between the competent professionals acting on behalf of the four owner management companies and the local authority areas. Three of the owner management companies have completed their engagement with the fire services and have received grant agreements to proceed with works.

Subject to validation, payment to OMCs is expected to commence on eligible works before the end of this year. I expect works, particularly on one of the schemes, to start in a matter of weeks. There is no delay or shortfall in the availability of funding to protect the safety and welfare of those living in apartments or duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 with relevant fire safety defects that occurred during construction.

Like the Minister, I meet many of the affected homeowners and tenants in these properties. They have been enormously frustrated by the significant delays which would have been entirely avoidable had the Minister and his officials taken on board the detailed advice from Dublin Fire Brigade and others last year and early this year, rather than leaving it to the last minute in June, July and August of this year.

I have one follow-up question. Obviously, one challenge to emerge over the summer is that some of the schemes in question require repair to fire safety works that are not defects but are a result of a lack of maintenance by the OMC, often because of deficits in its management fee payments. Has a specific solution been found for that issue to ensure no works are delayed? If a solution has been found, can the Minister outline what that is? My view is the work should proceed and the Department should consider a way to claw back payments under the scheme for non-defects-related works such as fire alarms, etc., that need repair. Can the Minister provide an update on that?

First, I reject any assertion there have been delays in bringing this forward. We want to make sure the interim fire defects scheme works for people and residents. That is why I have engaged personally with literally hundreds of residents and their representative groups on this issue. The legislation we agreed yesterday is very important too. It will go to the Oireachtas joint committee in the next Oireachtas. That is one thing on which we differed. Deputy Ó Broin wanted to piggyback on the higher remediation scheme but we now have a new scheme in place. Obviously, the main scheme deals with structural defects, water ingress and fire safety. Fire safety is first based on the fact that they are defects from the time of construction. We have come across maintenance issues. This is why the pathfinder projects are good. In the context where a unit or multi-unit development cannot pay for some fire safety works that relate to maintenance, we are looking at a mechanism to assist them with that and for there to be a potential clawback. The principle has been agreed that this relates to defects at the time of building, not a lack of maintenance. We are working through that.

With respect to the wider redress scheme, we are very keen to see the general scheme. We will engage on it constructively, as we have done previously. On the basis of the press release the Minister issued, he has made a huge mistake. A grant scheme to owners' management companies to fund very complex remediation works in multi-unit developments is a mistake. If I am reading the press release wrong, the Minister should please correct me, but it seems he is following the flawed methodology of the defective block grant scheme in Donegal, which, as the he knows, is not functioning properly.

The Minister outlined a difference of opinion. He is right that my strong view is that, given the very strong track record of the Pyrite Resolution Board, its remit should have been expanded, with legislation if necessary, to take on this work. Was that option actively considered? Did the Minister meet representatives of the board to discuss it? Can he confirm that he intends to have a grant scheme for OMCs, many of which will not have the capacity or ability to manage very complex procurement and project-management issues related to remediation works far more complex than currently arise, as in the case of defective blocks?

We are resourcing the Housing Agency. There is a specific senior programme manager in place in the agency who is managing the applications. We have worked very closely with the OMCs on the applications, being able to seek the correct information and working that through. That is why the pathfinder schemes are so important. We receive applications every single day of the week and continue to have webinars with residents, OMCs and managing agents. I have also engaged with Insurance Ireland and the BFI on this to keep insurers abreast of what is happening.

We did consider tagging onto the Pyrite Resolution Board. I did meet representatives of the board on this. Residents themselves and representative groups rejected the suggestion from Sinn Féin, which was constructive, that there would be an add-on to the pyrite remediation scheme. Everyone agreed that we needed a specific scheme for apartment defects and specific legislation.

Absolutely. We are working through the process for retrospective payments as well.

I gave a commitment when I entered government to address this issue. The three parties of the Government gave a firm commitment to address this issue. Residents' response to our announcements on the works so far have been very positive. I will continue to work with them and all interested Members of the House to ensure the scheme continues to make the progress made already.

As the Minister knows, the figures published at the end of August for July show yet again an increase in the numbers of adults and children, including single people and pensioners, in emergency accommodation. Month after month, we see these increases. What the Minister is doing is not only not fixing the problem but also making it worse. What new initiatives does he intend to introduce in the coming months to start getting a grip on a crisis that he has not yet tackled since becoming Minister?

Supporting individuals and families facing homelessness is an absolute priority for me as Minister and the rest of the Government. Critical to supporting households to exit homelessness is increasing the supply of housing. Last year, almost 12,000 new social homes were delivered through build, acquisition and leasing, including 8,110 new-build homes, representing the highest level of new-build social homes in nearly 50 years. Including HAP and RAS, 21,733 social housing solutions were delivered throughout 2023.

Record State investment of €5 billion has been made available this year to support the State's largest home building programme ever, including 9,300 new-build social homes. This funding will also support the continued tenant in situ scheme, with provision to acquire at least 1,500 social homes where social housing tenants have received notices of termination due to landlords' intention to sell their property. This scheme delivered 1,830 acquisitions last year and was a key prevention measure. It actually ended many unsecure HAP tenancies and converted them to social housing tenancies, and it added to our social housing stock. For private tenants at risk of homelessness who are not in receipt of social housing supports, the cost-rental tenant in situ scheme was introduced. I will be introducing an amendment in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to deal specifically with setting up the cost-rental tenant in situ scheme on a legislative basis. It is now set up on an administrative basis and it requires legislation. I will be seeking the support of all Members of the House to get that legislation through as expeditiously as possible.

Budget 2024 allocated over €242 million for the delivery of homeless services. This funding will support the provision of emergency accommodation and supports that households require to exit emergency accommodation to a tenancy. It also includes measures to enhance family support and prevention and early intervention services for children and their families through a multi-agency and co-ordinated response. Local authorities and their service delivery partners will work closely with households in emergency accommodation to support them to secure an exit to a secure tenancy. With a significant increase in social housing stock, I have specifically and personally asked local authorities to ensure sufficient homes are allocated to exit households from emergency accommodation.

Yet, month after month, the number of adults and children, including pensioners, families and single people, in emergency accommodation has increased under the Minister's watch. In May 2021, the low point of homelessness as a result of the emergency measures introduced during the Covid pandemic by the Minister's predecessor, we had 5,843 adults and 2,184 children officially recognised as homeless. In July of this year, that shot up to 10,028 adults and 4,401 children. That is an 80% increase in overall homelessness on the Minister's watch and a dramatic 101% increase – a doubling – of child homelessness.

The Minister listed a series of measures, none of which is clearly reducing the numbers of presentations or lengths of stay in emergency accommodation. He has not given us a single new initiative. The length of time people are staying in emergency accommodation, particularly singles and large families, is growing ever longer. A circular issued by the Minister's Department in July is now restricting access to tenant in situ arrangements and making it more difficult for AHBs to acquire vacant properties for people who are homeless through the capital advance leasing facility.

I ask the Minister again whether he intends to do anything different, new or additional to start getting this crisis under control, a crisis that has spiralled out of control since he became Minister.

Deputy Ó Broin and every Member of this House knows that the reasons people enter homelessness are very complex. People enter homeless emergency accommodation for a variety of reasons. One of the main preventive measures the Government introduced that is working is the purchase of homes for tenants in situ. So too is the increased supply of social housing stock. People are spending less time in emergency accommodation and exiting emergency accommodation quicker than ever before.

I will give exact statistics with regard to homelessness across the country. Cork County is down 50%, Longford is down 44%, Monaghan is down 33%, Donegal is down 14%, Galway county is down 14%, Offaly is down 9%, Kilkenny is down 4%, and Galway city and Kildare are also down. There is an acute issue, particularly in Dublin, on which I will focus. I have met the Dublin local authorities myself. I meet them regularly on supporting them to exit people, particularly larger families, out of homelessness quicker. Our prevention and exit numbers are substantially up on last year's and that is because of the new supply under the largest State building programme in the history of the State.

The tenants in situ circular the Department issued is restricting the numbers, capping the ability of local authorities to acquire more properties, particularly in large urban areas, and making it more difficult for approved housing bodies to purchase properties that are vacant to meet the needs of one- and four-bed households, whose members spend longer in emergency accommodation. The Minister is correct that exits were marginally up last year by comparison with the year before, but they have been down overall in the past three or four years. They are down because exits to the private rental sector have collapsed and only a small increase in direct social housing allocations has been provided. The time people are spending in emergency accommodation is getting longer, not shorter. Despite all the Minister's talk, the problem is getting worse. From what the Minister has said, I gather there will be no new initiatives or measures to bring the numbers down. I ask for the third time whether I am wrong. Is the Minister going to do anything different in the months ahead to start tackling this problem?

Excuse me, do not interrupt me.

On 5 July, I wrote to every chief executive across the country stating the targets set for them were the floor, not the ceiling. We exceeded our target last year. I expect us to do that again this year. The Deputy raised this last year as well. He said there were arbitrary targets and ceilings set regarding tenants in situ. There are not.

It is a very good preventative measure. Actually, if quarter 1 of 2023 is compared to the same quarter of this year, adult exits from emergency accommodation are up by over 17% and adult preventions are up by over 57%. Most people will understand that while we are doing that, we need to increase housing stock. That is what we have done since this Government has come in. There are 115,000 new homes, with social housing new builds at a rate that we have not seen for 50 years. We will increase that further again this year. It remains our number one priority. It is a challenge.

I ask this question in relation to the defective blocks scheme and the amendments that have come forward in regard to it. We know that when the scheme was announced, people were advised to continue on with the old scheme and that the new conditions would be applied retrospectively for them and they would be able to benefit from the new scheme. That actually is not happening. That is a problem causing huge distress to many homeowners in Donegal who in good faith went ahead with the scheme. Now they are not benefiting from the scheme. That is detrimental to them. I ask the Minister to reconsider that decision.

I thank the Deputy. It is a very important issue. As the Deputy is aware I commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 on 22 June 2023. This was a greatly enhanced scheme where we upped the cap from €247,000 to €420,000. We adopted those regulations for that scheme on 29 June 2023. A review mechanism was included in that Act which provides for an increase or decrease to the overall grant scheme cap. It is currently at €420,000, a year after the Act has commenced. That allows us to do that one year after the Act has commenced of up to 10% in accordance with conditions of section 11 of the Act. My Department received updated costs reports from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland because I wanted it to be done independently. That was a big debate we had during the legislation as the Deputy will recall. It is an important thing. That was considered by the expert group that I established. The expert group recommended increases under the 2022 Act. I will be bringing a memo to Government very shortly to increase the current scheme cap for remediation options, ancillary grants and grant rates. I have engaged directly with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, on this matter and aim to bring this proposal to Cabinet very shortly. I am pleased to see more people are applying to the new scheme. We are seeing homes being remediated. That is important too. The application of the increased cost amounts and the increased rates will be a matter that I will be bringing to Cabinet very shortly, within a matter of weeks, and that will be implemented for those in the scheme. As part of the proposal, following my discussions with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, I intend that it will apply also to those who are in the scheme with works currently in place and under way.

Will it also apply to people who have completed works as part of the scheme, who did it in good faith and worked under the old scheme while this new scheme has been implemented and enacted? They are now left, having spent money they cannot access. As well as that, it is vitally important because the new scheme has seen inflation of more than 20% in construction figures and they need to benefit from that because they have expended that money. It is vitally important that everybody would benefit from this. Everybody bought into this scheme on the basis that it was going to happen and now they are worried that it is not going to happen. I would like to encourage and say today that it will happen and that that is what the Minister will be bringing to Cabinet to make a decision on.

I thank the Deputy. The scheme is gaining hold in the affected counties as well. We are seeing more people applying to it. I am looking at recent numbers up to 31 August. In County Clare there have been 112 applications, 1,760 in County Donegal, 38 in County Limerick and 392 in County Mayo. I will be bringing proposals around increased costs and an increased cap as well to Cabinet very shortly. It is obviously subject to a Cabinet decision. I take the Deputy's input on board certainly in the constructive way in which it has been put. I have engaged directly with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, as I said as well on this. I expect to be bringing proposals with regard to the increased grant rates and the increased costs amounts which were assessed independently of me. The Deputy mentioned an inflation rate of 20%. The cost allowable and the cost increases have been assessed independently of myself. That report has been looked at by the expert group. I am assessing it and preparing a memo right now to bring to Cabinet. It will be subject to Cabinet approval. My Cabinet colleagues across all three parties in government have been very supportive of us bringing forward this enhanced scheme in the first place and then also making sure that it is working on the ground for people to help them to get their homes and their lives back. It is crucially important. I will keep the Deputy informed of progress.

I want to go back again in regard to the enhanced scheme and who will benefit from the proposals that the Minister will bring forward. Is it going to be everybody that has participated in the scheme up to date that will benefit from the proposals the Minister will bring into Cabinet? Will there be a cut off point or what is actually going to happen? The homeowners deserve that clarity in relation to the scheme because living in a home with defective blocks is a crisis for a family and for everybody to deal with. They are living through this all the time. They need that clarity to ensure that they know where they are, going forward.

All I can say is, Deputy, it is subject to my bringing the memo to Cabinet, which is being prepared at the moment, with options for Cabinet to decide upon. I can say to residents and affected homeowners that they will see an increase in the cap. They will see an increase in the allowable costs, the application of which and the approval of those is subject to Cabinet approval which I expect in the coming weeks, very shortly. I take on board the point raised by the Deputy and that will form part of our considerations as well.