Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 July 2015
774. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to assist persons who find pyrite in the blockwork of their homes; the help he will provide; if he will consider the introduction of a grant scheme to assist them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30338/15]
View answer775. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider introducing an amendment to the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 to include those affected with pyrite in their blocks, rather than confining the pyrite remediation scheme only to those who have reactive pyrite in subfloor hardcore material; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30340/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 774 and 775 together.
While I fully appreciate and acknowledge the extremely difficult and distressing situations that householders have to deal with when faced with the consequences of poor workmanship or the use of defective materials, in general, building defects are matters for resolution between contracting parties, i.e. the homeowner, the builder, the supplier and/or their respective insurers.
In the event that the parties cannot reach a settlement by negotiation the option of seeking redress in the Courts can be considered. In this context, I believe that the parties responsible for poor workmanship and / or the supply of defective materials should face up to their responsibilities and take appropriate actions to provide remedies for the affected homeowners.
In March of last year, my Department met with a number of private homeowners from County Mayo whose homes are affected by structural problems. The problems appear to concern approximately 15 private houses and the period of construction for the houses involved was 1997 to 2002. My Department was also made aware of problems associated with the cracking of concrete blocks in a small number of local authority estates in County Mayo involving some 17 dwellings.
Similar to the position in County Mayo, my Department also met with a number of private homeowners from County Donegal in December last year whose homes are also affected by structural problems in the blockwork. In addition, I visited a number of the affected dwellings in Donegal in late February of this year. Test reports on the affected concrete blocks, which had previously been commissioned by a number of the affected homeowners, were made available to my Department in order to provide a more detailed and scientific insight into the problems being faced by the affected homeowners.
Having regard to the information available to my Department, a technical report has been prepared for my consideration; I intend to complete my deliberations in these matters shortly.
The 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 Counties Mayo and Donegal. I have no proposals to amend the Act in this regard.
