Departmental Schemes
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Barry Ward (FG), Dún Laoghaire

I really appreciate what the Minister of State said at the end of the answer. I appreciate his positive engagement on this. As he says, we had a conversation about this earlier today. I appreciate his undertaking to raise this with the officials because there is a gap, in fairness, in this situation. I understand what he has said about the validation process but he has to remember that these people, through their OMC, wrote in, applied for the scheme and were told yes. It took nearly two years before the Housing Agency turned around and said, "Actually, no". There is a terrible unfairness for them there whereby they find themselves initially satisfied that they will be covered and that the State has their back in terms of this remediation and then being told the rug has essentially been pulled from under their feet. Maybe that is a bureaucratic situation that is beyond help but the reality is that the finalisation of this scheme is not beyond help. The legislation has not passed yet. There is an opportunity for the Minister of State and his officials in respect of this type of building, which, as he notes himself in the response, was legitimately, properly and validly transformed from an office block into residential apartments, and with the bona fides of the people who bought those apartments. They paid the full whack of tax as if they were buying a newbuild apartment, and the units are recorded as such on the residential property price register. Whatever you think about the scheme, they must be included in it. If it is the case that the scheme, as currently drafted and operating on an interim basis, does not cover them, let us change it.
I would be very grateful if the Minister of State would assure me that this will be considered for change in the scheme. The owners have written to the Minister's office and sent him statements and briefs about what has happened here but they have not heard back from him yet. I would also be grateful if the Minister of State could commit that they will get an answer and get some succour, some reassurance, from his Department and from the Housing Agency that they will not be left in the lurch, that they will not fall between stools and that, as taxpayers who bought apartments in good faith, they will be supported by the State, as any other owner of a newbuild apartment would have been.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22