Minister Darragh O'Brien receives report on defects in apartment and duplex buildings.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and local Fingal TD Darragh O'Brien TD, has received the report of the working group he established to examine defects relating to fire safety, structural safety and water ingress in purpose-built apartment and duplex buildings constructed in Ireland between 1991 and 2013.

The report notes that of the apartments and duplexes constructed between 1991 and 2013, the number that may be affected by one or more defects is likely to range between 50% and 80%.

In Fingal the number of apartments and duplexes constructed between 1991 and 2013 stands at approximately 14,000.

Welcoming the report, the Minister said, "Upon becoming Minister for Housing, one of the first things I did was start the process of establishing the independent working group."

"I have always believed this was a nettle we needed to grasp and that we need to help the people who are impacted, many of whom live here in North County Dublin."

"I would like to sincerely thank the working group who have conducted a significant amount of work over the past year and a half and who have provided me with a detailed report which identifies and evaluates the scope and scale of the issue and proposes recommendations."

"It's a very substantial report, at more than 230 pages, and I will consider it along with my Government colleagues."

"We are committed to finding a path forward and to helping the people who have been impacted by these defects."

"Many people are rightly asking how we are ensuring that issues like these never happen again. Government is committed to its Building Control Reform Agenda, which is focused on reform of the building control process, the National Building Control Management Project, and putting the Construction Industry Register Ireland on a statutory footing."

"This report is only the starting point, we have much more to do and will not delay in doing it," he concluded."

Ref - Independent.ie