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Pyrite Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2018

Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Questions (620)

Alan Farrell

Question:

620. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the action he plans to take to address the needs of homeowners in which they require remediation of their homes due to the contamination of the concrete blocks with pyrite and mica; the measures he will take to ensure affected homeowners in north Leinster and particularly in Fingal are covered by all actions to address the contamination of concrete blocks with mica and pyrite; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49336/18]

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Written answers

In 2013, the issue of external walls of dwellings displaying significant cracking in Donegal was raised with my Department. The nature of the problem related to the crumbling of the concrete blockwork in the external walls of affected dwellings, thereby compromising their structural integrity and giving rise to considerable personal distress to the many homeowners involved. At that time, several hundred homes were suspected to be affected in north Donegal. The presence of muscovite mica in abundant quantities in the aggregate constituent of the concrete blocks was suggested as being one of the main factors contributing to the deterioration of the concrete blocks.

By the end of 2013, similar problems had also come to light in both public and private dwellings located in west Mayo and Mayo County Council submitted a report to my Department on problems that had been identified with the concrete blockwork in their social housing stock. In this instance, it was the presence of pyrite in the aggregate constituent of the concrete block that was suggested as being one of the main factors contributing to the deterioration of the concrete blocks. The emergence of similar problems among private households located in County Mayo was also reported in 2013.

Over the course of 2014 and 2015, there were significant representations, media reports and letters from affected homeowners illustrating the increasing scale of the problems emerging in the two counties, the progressive nature of the external wall cracking and the resultant structural distress in the affected properties.

An Expert Panel on Concrete Blocks was established by my Department in 2016 and its terms of reference were limited to the investigation of the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in Counties Donegal and Mayo.

Under Budget 2019, the Government approved in principle the development of a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in the two counties to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged due to defective concrete blocks.  Work is underway in my Department on the development of such a scheme and it is intended to revert to Government with proposals for the scheme by the end of the year.

A standardised protocol was published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) on 13 November 2018 and is available at www.nsai.ie.  This standard can be used by homeowners anywhere in the country to assess and categorise the damage in properties where the concrete blocks are suspected to contain the minerals mica or pyrite and it will inform the course of action in relation to remedial works for all such affected properties.

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