Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020
304. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if the pyrite resolution scheme has been made available to secondary homeowners in addition to primary homeowners; and if so, the reason the scheme does not also apply to the defective concrete blocks scheme being administered by Donegal County Council. [16913/20]
View answerThe Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board (PRB) and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the PRB with support from the Housing Agency. The full conditions for eligibility under the scheme are set out in the scheme which is available on the PRB's website, www.pyriteboard.ie. A person who is the owner or joint owner of a dwelling that complies with the eligibility criteria, may apply to the PRB for only one dwelling to be included in the scheme.
In relation to the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme, Regulations under sections 2 and 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1979 provide for a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in the counties of Donegal and Mayo to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged due to defective concrete blocks, entitled Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks in Construction (Remediation) (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 25 of 2020).
The Regulations, which provide the legal framework for the grant scheme of financial assistance, came into operation on 31 January 2020. The scheme is targeted at assisting a restricted group of homeowners in the counties of Donegal and Mayo, who have no other practicable options to access redress for their home. The dwelling must be a homeowner’s principal private residence, that is, a house or apartment which an individual owns and occupies as his or her only or main residence.
