The owners of apartments in Kilmainham in Dublin are facing bills of €26,000 each to repair fire safety issues.
A barrister said the owners of the 119 apartments at St James's Wood have little or no legal recourse under Irish building law, as the development was built almost 20 years ago.
A series of fire-safety reports seen by The Irish Times show multiple and widespread problems which include deficient alarm systems and walls that would not contain a fire in one of the apartments for the required length of time.
Industry sources told the newspaper the faults are “red line issues”, meaning the complex could be immediately closed if an official complaint was made, but Dublin Fire Brigade said they had got “no complaints in relation to non-compliance with the granted fire safety cert” at the complex.
Cosgrave Property Group built St James’s Wood in 2000 and the group said it would not comment on the matter.
