Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 November 2016
21. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will extend the eligibility under the pyrite remediation scheme in order that building condition assessments with a damage condition rating of 1 can be included; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35230/16]
View answer28. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 63 of 5 October 2016 and 124 of 20 October 2016, if he will acknowledge the deficit in the present pyrite remediation scheme for properties with pyrite but a DCR of less than 2; and if he will initiate an immediate review of the scheme to facilitate the inclusion of these dwellings. [35487/16]
View answer31. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will initiate an immediate review of the pyrite remediation scheme starting with a survey of those whose homes have been remediated to evaluate their experiences and improve the scheme for those accepted for remediation but also to survey those whose properties have been excluded to address the problems of gaining access to the scheme. [35486/16]
View answer74. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of dwellings since the establishment of the pyrite remediation scheme which had a damage condition rating of 1 when their building condition assessments were first completed and which were refused under the pyrite remediation scheme that have now progressed to a damage condition rating of 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35231/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 21, 28, 31 and 74 together.
The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme by the Pyrite Resolution Board for certain dwellings affected by significant pyrite damage. The Report of the Pyrite Panel (June 2012) provided the overarching framework for the pyrite remediation scheme and its eligibility criteria are reflective of the conclusions and recommendations of that report. The independent Pyrite Panel was clear in its view that only dwellings with significant damage due to pyritic heave should be remediated and that it would be unreasonable to expect dwellings not exhibiting such damage to be remediated unless or until they exhibit significant pyritic damage. This remains the position with regard to dwellings which do not display significant pyritic damage.
The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” and is limited in its application and scope. The scheme is applicable to dwellings which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave established in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2013 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol. It is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment with a Damage Condition Rating of 2. Dwellings which do not have a Damage Condition Rating of 2 are not eligible to apply under the scheme. I have no proposals to amend this eligibility criterion or to review the scheme in this regard.
Given that the scheme does not apply to dwellings which have a Damage Condition Rating of 1, the Pyrite Resolution Board does not maintain records on the number of properties that fall into this category. Nevertheless, the Board is aware that 7 dwellings, which had a Damage Condition Rating of 1 when their building condition assessments were first completed, and which were refused under the scheme, have now progressed to a Damage Condition Rating of 2; these dwellings have now been included in the pyrite remediation scheme following the submission of new applications.
