The Banking and Insurance Redress Focus Group were in attendance of the first meeting of a sub-group set up by the Department of Housing to see that homes remediated and rebuilt under the Defective Block Scheme will be fully mortgagable and insurable.
Minister Charlie McConalogue has said that government will be insisting on cast iron guarantees from banks and insurance companies to see this is the case.
However the focus group says those guarantees will be given, dependent on whether or not the work is certified by a registered engineer, and Engineers Ireland are considering that ahead of the next meeting in February.
They also say it is not a matter for political demands or grandstanding.
Focus Group member Seamus Devenney says if engineers don’t sign off on the work, then the government will have to revisit the scheme, and with foundations not being replaced, he believes that’s very likely:
