Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said that he is “angry” that developers have been able to walk away from defective apartment blocks but acknowledged that the Government has no plans at present to pursue them.
Mr O’Brien was speaking in Sandyford in south Dublin after meeting a group of owners of defective properties about the launch of a pilot scheme under which the Government will pay for fixing the defects. The “pathfinder” scheme, which will examine the best way to compensate owners, will include more than 1,000 properties, he said.
Mr O’Brien said that there are about 100,000 properties affected across the country, with about a third remediated already.
Asked if there were any efforts by the Government to make the people who actually built the defective properties pay for them, Mr O’Brien said: “I have to say I’m pretty angry – a lot of the developments, we know who built them. The statute of limitations for many of them has ran out. In many instances, companies have folded and set back up again and are building again and that’s a great frustration.”
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Asked if there were plans to name the developers in question, Mr O’Brien said: “I have always been guided by what residents want first and foremost and they really need to see progress.
He added: “The stress that people have been under in living with these type of horrendous defects the issues they’ve had with regard to costs, trying to fund things themselves, increased insurance costs and in some instances where there’s been threats to withdraw insurance from certain developments – that has been my main focus in trying to bring improvements in that area.
“But any legal mechanism that we can use to go after those whose shoddy workmanship left residents who pay good money for their homes – I’m not closing the door on any legal options that may be available to us,” he said.
He said the list included “some significant players in the construction sector”.
Pressed as to whether there were any current plans to hold the developers to account, Mr O’Brien admitted: “Not right now as I talk to you today. But I’m certainly not closing the door on that.”
Mr O’Brien was also asked if the Government would agree new housing targets before the election. The Government had previously said that it would adopt updated targets before the Dáil was dissolved but reports over the weekend suggested that Tánaiste Micheál Martin had blocked efforts to reach agreement.
“There’s still work ongoing there,” Mr O’Brien said. “I mean everyone has a number. Really my focus is on driving the completions for this year.
“I expect there will be a discussion at Cabinet tomorrow,” he added, but said: “I can’t say that a decision will be made tomorrow.”
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said that he wanted to see a figure agreed before the election, commending the ESRI figure of about 53,000 units a year.
“It’s been discussed among the party leaders over recent weeks, I’d have a preference to see them published [before the election]. I think it’s important that we set out what we hope to achieve over the next five years,” he said. “I think it’s important that they’re realistic, but also ambitious and it is about getting that balance right.”
The “pathfinder” scheme for the defective apartments was welcomed by the Construction Defects Alliance, which campaigns for the homeowners affected.
“While we await the details of what the pathfinder process will involve — including its terms of reference and the timelines involved, especially for reimbursing owners — there is no doubt that Minister O’Brien’s announcement will be a source of great relief to thousands of apartment owners across the country,” campaign group chairman Pat Montague said.
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