Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2014
129. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the emergence of pyrite in County Donegal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, if he will bring forward legislation to amend the pyrite remediation scheme, in order that residents in these areas can be considered for inclusion. [45874/14]
View answerThe Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the pyrite remediation scheme and while the Act provides that the scheme can be amended, replaced or revoked, this can only be done in accordance with the scope of the Act. The provisions of the Act apply only to dwellings affected by significant damage attributable to pyritic heave resulting from the presence of reactive pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material and not to damage arising in any other circumstances, such as the presence of contaminants in concrete blocks as appears to be the case in County Donegal. I have no proposals to amend the Act in this regard.
The scheme, which was published by the Pyrite Resolution Board in February of 2014, was developed having regard to the recommendations set out in the report of the independent Pyrite Panel and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013. The Panel was established in September 2011 to explore options for a resolution to the problem of pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material which at that time had manifested itself in dwellings in a number of areas. The Panel reported in July 2012.
Any proposal to amend the scheme would, in the first instance, be a matter for the Pyrite Resolution Board and any such proposal would require detailed consideration of the evidence deemed necessary to support the case for an amendment to the scheme. The recommendations of the Pyrite Panel to establish a pyrite remediation scheme to include dwellings in the functional areas of Dublin city, Fingal, Kildare, Meath and Offaly were premised on a number of pertinent factors and I would support the view that similar factors would need to be examined in advance of extending the scheme to other areas, given the scheme is ultimately one of last resort.
I refer to the reply to Question No. 318 of 14 October 2014 which sets out the information that would be required for the Board in order to consider an amendment to the scheme to include the functional area of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
