RESIDENTS OF THE Crescent Apartment Building in Parkwest, Co Dublin have called on the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to provide them with emergency funding after fire defects worth over €68,000 were found in 2020.
Last year the residents of the apartment building were told during a Zoom meeting, hosted by the board of the Owners’ Management Company, that the total cost will be €15.9 million, and each owner is expected to pay a levy of €68,500 over five years.
In October, the apartment owners voted “overwhelmingly” against a proposal to pay the levy to fix the fire safety defects which could allow a fire to spread rapidly through the development, according to the Dublin Fire Brigade.
Apartment owners protested outside the Dáil today and said that the Minister “made promises” to establish an emergency fund for the buildings, which would fund the fixes.
One resident, Lorcan, said: “We’re here today to find out where our funding is so we can get communal areas and our apartments, our homes, back without being impacted.”
Lorcan told The Journal outside the Dáil today thatthe group was promised by the Housing Minister that the department committed to funding “within weeks”.
“But then something has happened now, and we’re still waiting to hear,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Minister said that progress is being made “on the various programmes of work that are required to place the remediation scheme on a statutory footing”.
The spokesperson said: “A key aspect in facilitating remediation works, is the development of a Code of Practice in the context of the Fire Services Acts, to provide guidance to relevant professionals, including guidance on interim safety measures.”
According to the statement given to The Journal, the working group that was set up to establish these codes of practice is “nearing completion” and will publish a draft in the “coming weeks”.
The spokesperson did not specifically mention the promises allegedly made to the residents in the Crescent Apartment Building in Parkwest and added that work is in progress to establish “the scope, eligibility and conditions” of the remediation scheme.
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