Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The report and series of recommendations from the panel set up to examine the crisis regarding pyrite has been published. Slightly more than 10,000 homes were identified, 850 of which needed immediate attention and repairs. I note this does not include paths, streets or even some of the boundaries. There may be many thousands more, as problems with pyrite may not become manifest until later. This is not to mention the local authority housing projects, schools and community buildings in which pyrite has been discovered but which are not mentioned in this report. It is very disappointing that the agencies, including HomeBond for the insurance industry, the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Concrete Federation and even the Law Society of Ireland did not engage with the Minister or his Department. I note HomeBond would not even engage with the committee as set up and some of the aforementioned bodies would not even engage with the pyrite action groups set up to pursue this matter. It is not good enough to state it is not the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and that it is a private matter. While this happened to private houses, there is an onus on Members to deal with this matter. There is an onus on the State, on the Minister and his Department to deal with this problem because people's homes are falling apart. Some of those affected are in negative equity and some have huge mortgages. The living standards of people have gone downhill and many are suffering from depression and other side-effects.

I also wish to flag the plight of five families in my constituency who are living in caravans at a site in Finglas. They are waiting for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to provide funding to repair their houses, which contain pyrite. While they await that funding, I appeal to the Minister to look into this matter because these people have spent two years in these caravans in the most appalling conditions and this cannot be allowed to continue.

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