Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
720. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if following testing for pyrite under the resolution process, houses are placed in the amber category with a potential for swelling, if there will be a time limit on the commitment to remediate damage which may occur. [1966/13]
View answerThe pyrite panel recommended that only dwellings where there is significant damage, which is confirmed by testing to be pyrite related, should be remediated. It further recommended that dwellings categorised as amber, where there is reactive pyrite in the hardcore but no associated damage, should be monitored and only remediated if they exhibit damage consistent with pyritic heave.
I.S. 398 – Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1 Testing and categorisation protocol, being developed by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), will facilitate the categorisation of dwellings.
The risk of future pyritic heave is difficult to predict due the multifaceted nature of the pyrite problem and this is alluded to in the report of the independent pyrite panel. The scope and terms of the proposed remediation scheme have not yet been developed and the inclusion of time lines for the remediation of dwellings categorised as amber may be considered as part of that process.
