Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Some of us are, unfortunately, experts in pyrite because we have been living with it for a number of years. During my 11 years as a councillor with Fingal County Council it was a major problem. Fingal is one of the areas worst affected.

I welcome the establishment of the board. As stated by Senator Keane, all of the quarries responsible for this are still operating. To the best of my knowledge, none of them has had a licence revoked and nothing has been done to them. Mr. O'Connor mentioned in his opening statement that up to end January 2015 632 applications had been received by the board. Would he agree that that number of applications is a drop in the ocean in terms of the pyrite problem in this country? As I understand it, the estimate of the number of houses affected varies between 10,000 and 20,000. I do not believe that is an over-estimate for the following reason. In my own estate of Castlecurragh in Mulhuddart there are 720 housing units. I am not aware how many applications the PRB may have received from people in that estate but I know from the countless meetings I have had with residents of the estate on this matter that most of them have not submitted an application to it. Most of them are still not aware that their homes contain pyrite. When I was out canvassing around the estate I could see as soon as many of the doors were opened that the houses had been damaged by pyrite, to which I then alerted people.

Pyrite damage tends to be a problem in estates made up mainly of starter homes, many of which are rented out. I can assure Mr. O'Connor that the 632 applications received is only a drop in the ocean. Of the 720 housing units in my estate, approximately 100 to 150 were represented at various meetings I held on the matter. I know from those meetings that houses in only one part of the estate are affected, which may be a reason for the number of applications received to date being very low. Within a two-mile radius of Mulhuddart, houses in another four estates are affected by pyrite. One of the estates is a council built estate that is being leased to the Respond housing agency. As I understand it, because the residents of those houses do not own their own homes they are exempt from the PRB scheme. This is another anachronism. Perhaps Mr. O'Connor would clarify if the scheme is to be opened up to people whose houses are decaying around them.

Has the PRB considered taking out advertisements to advise people of the symptoms of pyrite? It was only when I held public meetings and showed people photographs of what pyrite looks like that they realised their homes were affected. In my view, the PRB needs to be more proactive in terms of making people aware of the scheme. I presume there is a deadline for receipt of applications and so on. Money needs to be spent on encouraging people into the system. As a councillor I did a great deal of work in this area, with no help from the council. I was accused on many occasions, when pyrite was not being openly talked about, of devaluing people's houses, etc. Residents who purchased homes in my estate in the past five years are now living in pyrite-affected homes. Secrecy does not do anybody any good. As I said earlier, the figure of 632 is only a drop in the ocean. I appreciate that things are slow to get started, that five houses have been remediated and the aim is to remediate a further 600 this year.

Mr. O'Connor also stated in his opening submission that the availability of funding has not been an issue. Surely it is an issue. Work would be progressing much quicker if more money and staff were available. Mr. O'Connor might think work is progressing at a satisfactory pace but I am a little more impatient because I am dealing constantly with people who have been living with the problem for many years.

My next query relates to HomeBond. When many of us bought homes we insured them with HomeBond. At that time, it was the biggest insurer of homes and was State-advertised. It is an absolute disgrace that it has forked out only €2 million. HomeBond under-insured all of us. Surely, that is a crime. It is criminal to take from people payment for premiums which one knows will not cover potential damage. Other insurers like Premier Insurance did not do that and are doing a good job. The €2 million provided will remediate only six or seven houses. I know from experience that the worked involved per house is between €20,000 and €30,000.

What will be done in regard to council and housing authority houses affected by this problem? There seems to be a slowness to act by some of the housing agencies in this regard. As elected people councillors can at least raise this issue but the housing agencies do not have that facility. I am not picking on the housing agencies but they do not appear to have the expertise or knowledge to address their tenants' housing issues, despite that they are receiving rent from those tenants and that there has been no reduction in rent in respect of houses affected by pyrite. Will the PRB consider inclusion of council and housing agency houses in the scheme?