Blanchardstown fire ‘underscores the urgency’ to act on building defects, says Murphy

The fire that broke out at a Blanchardstown apartment complex over the weekend underscores the urgency to act on building defects, says People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy.

“Residents at the apartments in Blanchardstown have all spoken about the scary speed that the fire spread,” he said.

“Although it is too early to be definitive on the reason or scale of the spread in Blanchardstown at this time, we do know that between 50 and 80 percent of apartment and duplex buildings built between 1991 and 2013 have serious defects, mostly fire defects.

“The fire in Blanchardstown underscores the need for urgency by the government in addressing fire defects in apartments and defects.

“It is now almost a year since Minister O’Brien received the report from the Working Group to examine defects in Housing.

“But we still have no scheme in place to provide emergency funding for work that is urgently needed to protect safety.

“The latest from the Minister suggests he hopes to have a scheme in place by autumn 2024.

“That is simply not good enough.

“It is excellent news that nobody was seriously injured in this fire.

“Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that this would be the case in the event of another fire in a different building. This fire should cause the government to reassess and prioritise this issue.”