16 Ean 2012, 11:32
The refusal of HomeBond to appear before the Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht is a matter of serious public concern. The Committee has agreed to request Minister Hogan to encourage HomeBond to appear before the Committee to discuss the cost of restoring the structural integrity of houses damaged by the use of pyrite in building materials.
Committee Chairman Ciarán Lynch, TD said: “As part of the Committee’s hearings into the cost of restoring houses damaged by the use of pyrite in building materials, HomeBond was invited before the Committee to explain its decision to opt out of legal responsibility to the purchasers of homes damaged by pyrite.
As HomeBond is a private limited company, the Committee could not compel it to appear before it to discuss the topic. However, the refusal by HomeBond to discuss an issue of public importance with an Oireachtas Committee is a matter of serious public concern.
The Committee noted that HomeBond had decided to engage with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government on this issue by participating in the Pyrite Panel established by Mr Phil Hogan TD, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.
We are surprised and disappointed that HomeBond should, at the same time, refuse to engage with an Oireachtas Committee on the same issue. The Committee has agreed to ask Minister Hogan to encourage HomeBond to appear, as requested, before the Committee to discuss this very important issue at its earliest convenience.”
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Ciarán Lynch, Labour Party (Chairman)
Noel Coonan, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
James Bannon, Fine Gael
Paudie Coffey, Fine Gael
Terence Flanagan, Fine Gael
Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael
Tony McLoughlin, Fine Gael
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
Brian Walsh, Fine Gael
Kevin Humphreys, Labour Party
Gerald Nash, Labour Party
Seán Kenny, Labour Party
Robert Troy, Fianna Fáil
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil
Niall Collins, Fianna Fáil
Sandra McLellan, Sinn Féin
Dessie Ellis, Sinn Féin
Brian Stanley, Sinn Féin
Clare Daly, Socialist Party
Catherine Murphy, Independent
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Independent
Senators:
Cáit Keane, Fine Gael
Catherine Noone, Fine Gael
Denis Landy, Labour
Labhrás Ó’Murchú, Fianna Fáil
Ned O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil
Eamonn Coghlan, Independent