Robert Troy says fire safety cert not required for rented Dublin property

Fianna Fáil Minister of State Robert Troy has said a fire safety certificate was not required under the building regulations for a property co-owned by him in north inner city Dublin.

Dublin City Council (DCC) previously opened a planning enforcement investigation into the property on Rathdown Road in Grangegorman following a complaint in 2015.

The local authority confirmed it had previously investigated a complaint over renovations on the property, where seven bedsits were converted into four apartments.

Land registry records list Mr Troy and John Noel McGivney as joint owners of the property from February 2016, which was bought by the pair some time before that date.

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Mr McGivney sought permission in early 2016 from the council to retain a fire escape stairs at the side of the property. In a planner’s report examining the application, DCC noted that there was “no planning history” linked to the subdivision of the property into four apartments.

The report said a “recent enforcement file has been opened on this property relating to the subdivision of the property”. The council’s report added that it was “unclear” if the subdivision of the property had been authorised.

Pre-dated regulations

Mr Troy issued a statement on Wednesday in which he said “we received advice from the architect-engineer that oversaw the development of Rathdown Road, that the building pre-dated the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 1963 and pre-dated the Building Control Act 1990 and Building Control Regulation 1991.

“The advice was as there was no ‘material change’ nor ‘material change of use’ as a result of the renovations carried out, an application for a fire safety certificate was not required under Building Regulations, however, all works were completed to the relevant fire safety regulations including the addition of a fire escape as part of these fire safety measures.

“I can also confirm Dublin City Council advised no planning was required for 25a Rathdown Road apart from the planning we obtained for the fire escape. Dublin City Council inspected this property in 2015 and in 2016 and issued a report in September 2016 which recommended no further action was required.”

A spokesman for the council told the Irish Times on Tuesday that permission for the retention of the fire escape stairs was granted in September 2016.

“As such permission has been granted the external fire escape/staircase is now authorised. As such the file on the matter was closed and no further action taken,” he said.

The local authority did not propose taking any further action on the matter as the issue was investigated and closed in 2015 and 2016, the spokesman said.