Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2020
152. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of a remediation scheme for those who have been affected by pyrite in their homes, including those who have not fallen under the remit of previous schemes but who are still affected by the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27771/20]
View answerThe Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency.
The provisions of the Act apply only to dwellings affected by significant damage attributable to pyritic heave consequent on the presence of reactive pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material and not to damage arising in any other circumstance, e.g. such as pyrite in concrete blocks.
The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” for affected homeowners who have no other practical option to obtain redress and is limited in its application and scope. The full conditions for eligibility under the scheme are set out in the scheme which is available on the Board’s website, www.pyriteboard.ie.
The scheme is applicable to dwellings which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave, established in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2017 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol. In this regard, 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. This ensures that, having regard to the available resources, the focus of the scheme is on dwellings which are most severely damaged by pyritic heave. There are no proposals to provide for further financial assistance outside of the scheme.
As matters currently stand, the owners of dwellings located within the counties of Kildare, Meath or Offaly or the administrative areas of Fingal County Council, Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown or South Dublin are eligible to apply for remediation works under the scheme and I have recently extended the pyrite remediation scheme to include the administrative area of Limerick City and County Council, which will see homeowners of dwellings with significant damage attributable to pyritic heave in County Limerick eligible to apply for remediation works under the Pyrite Remediation Scheme.
€20m was provided under Budget 2020 to cover the implementation of the pyrite remediation scheme and is a clear signal of the continuing importance attached by Government to addressing the issue of significant pyritic damage in private dwellings. This will bring to approx. €150m the total funding provided under the scheme since 2014.
The latest figures available indicate that up to 2,800 applications have been made under the Scheme and, so far, 2,286 dwellings have been included. A further 88 applications have been validated and referred to the Housing Agency for the Assessment and Verification Process, 119 applications are at the initial Application and Validation Process and 238 applications were not successful. Of the 2,286 dwellings included, the works in respect of 2,001 are complete with the rest at various stages of progress.
