The owners of over 20,000 apartments and duplexes built during the Celtic Tiger years have been waiting more than two years to receive grants for urgent fire safety works.

The Government has now agreed to fast-track the critical fire safety measures, focusing on detection systems and resident alert and evacuation infrastructure.

In 2022, a working group commissioned by the then government found that up to 100,000 purpose-built apartments and duplexes constructed between 1991 and 2013 may be affected by fire safety, structural safety, or water ingress defects.

The Government has been under pressure to introduce an emergency funding mechanism to help owners impacted by fire safety defects in particular.

It is estimated that the full works could take up to ten years to be carried out, so an Interim Remediation Scheme has been set up to ensure there are effective alarm and evacuation systems.

At the moment there is concern that fire alarms may not be up to standard, and that escape routes are not safe.

The interim scheme was set up two years ago, but grants have been delayed due to public procurement rules, and a shortage of personnel in the local authority fire service to review applications for funding.

The Government has now agreed to measures to speed that process up.

Construction Defects Alliance spokesperson Pat Montague said: "It's basically about addressing the most risky fire safety challenges in those apartment complexes, so in most places that would be about ensuring that smoke detectors and fire alarms are fully up to speed and are working effectively.

"In other places it will be about addressing escape routes and making sure they are not in any way compromised."

Residents living in fear of fire breaking out

Ian Keogh, the owner of an apartment with defects in Clarion Quay in Dublin, said his apartment was built without sufficient fire-stopping materials.

The management company applied two years ago for the Interim Remediation Scheme but still has not received the grant.

Mr Keogh welcomed the government scheme and the measures put in place to speed up the process, but said they cannot wait much longer for the urgent fire safety works to be carried out.

"We know that the structure and the fire safety is not as it should be and it's been that way since we caught it and it is a deep concern and it's a worry … waiting for remediation work so we can sleep well at night."

Mr Keogh and other residents live in fear of a fire breaking out. He said that in 2023 a blaze broke out in one of the apartment blocks, which spread rapidly.

Footage shows fire which broke out at apartment in Clarion Quay in Dublin

"It was 12.30 at night, the fire developed very fast and climbed to the floors above in a matter of minutes when the fire protection of a structure should mean that should really not happen - it should be an hour at best or at worst.

"So that was very evident. We could see fire coming out of the building going up the outside cladding and going back into the apartments. It was very scary, we were very worried there were still people in the block.

"We need materials that are resistant to fire and we have seen from the fire in block one that they are not there.

"The wrong materials have been used and the fire-stopping is not in place throughout the development," he said.

The apartment owners in Clarion Quay are now paying €8,000 a year due to the massively increased insurance costs due to the presence of fire safety defects and the cost of hiring a 24/7 fire warden to help with evacuation in the event of a fire.

There have been 230 applications to the interim scheme, which makes up over 20,000 buildings.

The Construction Defects Alliance said there are a further 30,000 apartments whose management companies are eligible to apply to the scheme, but have not yet applied and they have appealed to them to sign up to the scheme.

It said in total that there are around 50,000 apartments that are in need of urgent fire safety works.

Watch: Ian Keogh says apartment lacks sufficient fire-stopping materials

The full remediation works will take place under the main scheme, which will be dealt with under the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill 2024, which is due to be introduced in the Oireachtas in the coming months.

The Construction Defects Alliance said it could take ten years or more to get all the defects sorted, with the biggest obstacle being competing demands for construction workers.

Fire-stopping is one of the issues that needs to be dealt with under the main scheme - this is where fires are stopped at source for an hour to ensure they do not spread quickly.

However, the alliance said that this is not present in affected apartments due to poor construction.

"The wrong materials have been used and the fire-stopping is not in place throughout the development."

Society of Chartered Surveyors spokesperson Kevin Hollingsworth said there is a huge volume of work to be done in the properties.

He said: "This work is dirty work, it's unpleasant work, going into people's homes and disturbing them with not much physical benefit and there are not as many specialised contractors to do this type of work."

He added that part of the process is building confidence with contractors to ensure that there is a steady stream of work for them.

The independent report estimated that there could be up to 100,000 apartments impacted by these defects and that remediation costs would "likely" cost around €25,000 per apartment.

In 2022, the overall work was estimated at up to €2.5 billion, but due to rising construction costs the final bill is likely to be much higher.

Building inspection regime non-existent, says Hollingsworth

Mr Hollingsworth said the State holds some responsibility for the defects because the building inspection regime during those years was practically non-existent and builders were able to self-certify.

He said that the timeframe for pursuing developers for building in a non-compliant way has lapsed.

"Primarily, the people who built these properties in a non-compliant fashion are responsible but there is a statute of limitations, it's either six years or 12 years, where they can no longer be pursued for negligence on their behalf.

"The reason why the Government have stepped up, and this is my opinion, in that they deregulated the construction industry in 1990 that allowed this regime of self-certification, which allowed the developers to manipulate the situation.

"That system has now been rectified by the government since 2013 and is more robust, but we do need more monitoring and enforcing of the construction industry," said Mr Hollingsworth.

Mr Montague is critical of the fact that developers are not liable to pay for the defects.

"Some of the owners' management companies have looked at taking legal action but were advised that it would be pointless, because while they might win in court the chances of getting any money out of that are slim to none.

"This is because the builders set up separate companies for each development and those companies only hold enough assets to complete that development and then they are liquidated as soon as the development is completed.

"So, in essence, the assets are out beyond reach and so that is a major problem here and that is one of the reasons that there have been few if any contributions here from the developers to sort out defects."

In a statement, the Department of Housing said that significant works need to be completed by competent professionals on behalf of applicants seeking approval for works under the scheme.

A building contractor must then be procured, and a full costing of works prepared and approved before works can commence.

Grant payment is made on foot of approved works completion.

The Government has agreed to fast-track critical fire safety measures, focusing on detection systems and resident alert and evacuation infrastructure.

The department said the Government will provide up to 50% advance funding to remove potential financial barriers to undertaking critical fire safety works.

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A fire broke out at an apartment complex in Clarion Quay in Dublin in February 2023

\u003Cp\u003EPat Montague said the rules are about addressing the \u0027most risky\u0027 fire safety challenges in the complexes\u003C/p\u003E

\u003Cp\u003EIan Keogh said a blaze broke out in one of the apartment blocks three years ago\u003C/p\u003E

\u003Cp\u003EKevin Hollingsworth said the timeframe for pursuing developers for building in a non\u002Dcompliant way has lapsed\u003C/p\u003E