I propose to take Questions Nos. 1385 and 1388 together.
HomeBond is a private limited company providing structural guarantees for new houses and, since November 2008, the HomeBond Insurance scheme is underwritten by Allianz Insurance. As is the case for any private company, its operations are a matter for its management and Board of Directors. I understand that HomeBond Insurance Services Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. As a private company, I have no role or function in its operations and cannot direct HomeBond to take a particular course of action.
My Department has made its position very clear on the issue of responsibility for providing a resolution of the pyrite problem for affected homeowners and has previously put on record its strong disagreement with the stance adopted by HomeBond in withdrawing, in August 2011, cover for pyrite-related damage. I believe that the parties identified in the Report of the Pyrite Panel
(July 2012) as having a direct or indirect responsibility for the pyrite problem should contribute to the resolution of the problem. It was against this background that my Department engaged in protracted discussions with the key stakeholders , including HomeBond, to try and put in place a framework within which those parties could bring about a resolution of the problem; regrettably, this did not prove possible.
Any legal actions being taken by householders in the context of the structural guarantees/insurances provided by HomeBond are civil matters between the affected parties. My Department has no function in such matters.
However, in the context of the pyrite remediation scheme, an agreement was reached between the Pyrite Resolution Board and HomeBond in June 2014 under which HomeBond has agreed to contribute technical and project management services to the Board to the value of €2 million. Such services include assisting in organising and managing the testing of dwellings and project management of remediation contracts. HomeBond has also agreed to make available to the Pyrite Resolution Board/Housing Agency the results of testing undertaken by it prior to the operation of the scheme.
Approximately 860 applications have been received by the Pyrite Resolution Board of which almost 640 have been approved for inclusion under the pyrite remediation scheme. Ultimately, the overall cost associated with the implementation of the scheme will be determined in accordance with the public procurements, both current and projected, for the engagement of construction professionals and works contractors to undertake the remediation of the affected dwellings.
