Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 September 2020
381. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason houses that are not principal private residences are excluded from the mica pyrite scheme; if they were excluded in previous pyrite compensation schemes; and if the matter will be reviewed. [26348/20]
View answerIn 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 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. As of now, I have no plans to review the matter.
Separately, the 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. A person who is the owner or joint owner of a dwelling that complies with the eligibility criteria, may apply to the PRB for one dwelling only to be included in the scheme.
