Nearly 600 apartments owners who applied for emergency fire-safety funding have been picked to become “pathfinders” in order to identify “pinch points” amid criticism of a State scheme to remediate the homes.
To date, the owners of nearly 16,000 defective apartments have yet to receive State funding for the emergency fire-safety works, despite the interim fund opening last year. The scheme is designed to fund fire alarm upgrades or replacements and make sure escape routes are safe in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending completion of the full remedial works which will be funded under imminent statutory legislation.
The scheme is administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis, and apartment owner management companies (OMCs) can apply through the agency’s website.
The Department of Housing said earlier this month that no applicant had yet made it through the various phases to receive funding. The Department has now confirmed that it is progressing with four “pathfinder” projects, representing 595 residential units, which have been selected from the larger pool of applicants.
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These residential units have been selected in order to “find pinch points” in the scheme and also to understand “the resources required”, the Department of Housing said in response to queries. They have also been picked with the purpose of “implementing best practices” among applicants.
The application process is broken into phases, including the selection of a competent professional to identify the defects, the completion of a fire-risk assessment, the preparation of a remediation works plan and the procurement of a builder.
“All four pathfinders are currently within this engagement stage and are expected to be completed in the coming weeks,” a spokesman for the department said.
“It is envisaged that the lessons learned through the pathfinders will ensure that the overall process for subsequent applicants will be more efficient and effective and thus allow works to be completed at an earlier stage than would have been the case.”
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said this raised the prospect of thousands of homeowners having to wait more than a year since the scheme opened to get vital works done.
“My understanding from a number of sources is that the emergency fire-safety funding scheme is at a serious impasse. The scope of the interim scheme as agreed by the Minister is too narrowly defined. This means that crucial fire-safety works that are necessary to make homes safe do not fall within the list of eligible works.
He said it was a year and a half since the scheme was announced by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien.
“Despite the best efforts of owners’ management companies, fire-safety professionals and others, access to much-needed emergency funding is not progressing. This is simply unacceptable.”
Mr Ó Broin said that even if the impasse was overcome by autumn, only one or two developments would see works commence this year.
“That means that the majority of the 16,500 homes that have in principal approval for the emergency fire-safety funding will not see any remediation until mid-2025,” he said.
The Department of Housing said in a statement that “there are no delays in funding being issued” and that full remedial works would be funded under the planned statutory scheme.
“The interim scheme provides for the funding of emergency fire-safety defect works in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending completion of the full remedial works. Full remedial works, which will include all necessary fire-safety measures as well as those related to water ingress and structural damage, will be funded under the statutory scheme which will be legislated for.”
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