The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien and the Minister of State for Planning and Local Government, Deputy Peter Burke, have urged people to share their experiences of housing defects relating to fire safety, structural safety and water ingress in purpose-built apartment and duplex buildings constructed in Westmeath between 1991 and 2013.
These experiences are sought by the Independent Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing which was established by Minister O’Brien in February 2021.
Minister O’Brien was speaking following the publication by the working group of online survey portals for:
• homeowners
• landlords
•directors of Owners’ Management Companies
• Property Management Agents
Views are sought from people regardless of whether such defects in those properties in Westmeath are currently known, unknown or where no such defects have arisen.
“Understanding the experiences of those directly affected by fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in apartment and duplex buildings constructed in Westmeath between 1991 and 2013 will help us understand the scale of the issue. We need to understand the full extent of legacy problems so that we can address them going forward.
“I encourage all those who own or manage purpose-built apartments or duplex buildings constructed in Westmeath between 1991 and 2013, to complete these surveys – whether the property in question has defects or not, or if the presence of defects is not known.
“I look forward to receiving the Working Group’s report later this year and will give it my full consideration,” Minister O’Brien emphasised.
The working group will use the survey information to inform its report to the Minister with particular regard to the following:
• the nature and scale of the issue of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects
• the difficulties that arise following the discovery of these defects
• the costs and levies associated with the remediation of the defects
Separate surveys for each stakeholder group are available at https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/7e319-online-survey-in-relation-to-defects-in-apartment-and-duplex-buildings/
The deadline for completing the surveys is Monday, March 14 2022.
