Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 October 2020
174. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the pyrite mica scheme for counties Mayo and Donegal is more restrictive than the existing pyrite remediation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30206/20]
View answerThe Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme is underpinned by regulations made under Sections 2 and 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1979, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to 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 the use of defective concrete blocks.
The scheme outlines five remedial options ranging from rebuilding on existing foundations to replacing of external walls. The maximum approved costs per dwelling under the scheme are significant and range from €55,00 to €275,000 depending on the remedial option. A grant of 90% of the approved costs associated with the necessary remediation works, subject to a maximum for each remedial option, or 90% of the actual cost of the remedial works, whichever is the lesser, is available under the scheme. This is in line with how similar Government grant schemes operate or have operated in the past, where an applicant contribution to the costs is a key requirement.
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. 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 or mica in concrete blocks. It is not a grant scheme. The average cost of remediation of a dwelling under the Pyrite Remediation Scheme is €70,000.
