Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to contribute to the statement on the report of the pyrite panel. The report is a significant step in addressing a serious issue for tens of thousands of individuals across north Leinster.

Five years and three months ago the Evening Herald led with a headline about my own estate and published a photograph of a house two doors from my own which was affected by pyrite. The following day, the TV cameras were in the estate and since then the pyrite problem has been simmering in the background.

Nothing was done to tackle the issue by the previous Administration. I pay tribute to a number of Deputies, particularly the Minister of State, Deputy Shane McEntee, and a number of Opposition Deputies, for the work they did in the previous Dáil and in the last months to ensure that this matter was brought to a head with the publication of this report and with the commitments given in the House by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, today and previously.

As someone who has gone through the process myself, having discovered pyrite in July 2007 and having had it remediated last year as a result of a settlement agreement that was much publicised, I know the hurt, anguish and pain other home owners are going through. On top of the pressures of mortgage payments taken out during the boom, cost of living changes, salary worries, job losses and all sorts of impositions placed on individuals in the past years, the knowledge that it would be almost impossible to borrow the €50,000 needed to fix one's home if it has pyrite - never mind if one can afford to get it tested to prove it has pyrite - is a significant worry.

The figure of 74 estates and 12,250 properties identified is probably accurate. I hope it is. It would be entirely unsatisfactory to come back to this issue a number of years from now, having found another pocket of dwellings constructed before or after 2007.

Will the industry and all the stakeholders take responsibility? This is the issue the Government must face. I am heartened by the comments of the Minister when he said the State had a role and a duty to assist home owners in finding a resolution to the pyrite problem. That is a clear and unambiguous commitment.

If the industry does not make a meaningful contribution in the next number of days, a legislative stick will be used to impose a levy to ensure that the home owners in the red category will at least have their properties fixed in the near future.

Anybody who finds themselves in the amber category where there are signs of pyritic heave will have their properties remediated. My personal opinion is that what is proposed for the amber category is not sufficient. If there is pyrite in the floor slab, one cannot sell one's house. If one cannot sell one's house, one cannot move on with one's life. There is a variety of reasons that a person would need to sell their home. They might have bought a two bedroom property and now have two or three children, so they need to move on. I am aware of families with two children living in one bedroom apartments on the first floor of apartment buildings. They cannot move on with their lives because they cannot sell their property due to it being in an apartment building with pyritic infection in the ground floor dwellings. That is a very distressing position for families.

In the 18 months since I was elected to the Dáil dozens, if not hundreds, of individuals have contacted my office, clinics and constituency office about this issue. As my constituency colleague mentioned earlier, Fingal and north Dublin is the hotbed of the pyrite problem and it spread outward from there. I noted Deputy Ó Fearghaíl's comments about the significant contribution we will all make in fast-tracking legislation, if required, if the industry does not step up to the mark in the next number of weeks. I compliment Fingal County Council on the work it did in 2007. The building control unit produced a comprehensive document which was sent to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and which, unfortunately, did very little with it thereafter. However, the report has been used since then and it is mentioned in the pyrite panel's report. I am certain the work undertaken at that time means less work is required now to move this issue towards a conclusion.

The pyrite panel report is a stepping stone in the right direction to getting the problem resolved. We must now ensure that a standardised testing regime is introduced so if a home owner believes they have pyrite but has been unable to afford to get a test carried out, they can avail of this low cost option as soon as possible. What I found most frustrating was the requirement to get a test carried out that would stand up to the evidentiary rules of our courts, which costs thousands of euro. I know some individuals, Deputies and other public representatives who have had to do that. The cost can range from a few hundred euro to a few thousand. We need a standardised system to ensure residents are aware whether they have the problem. At least they could then move on and provide the test result to prospective purchasers, perhaps, or to the pyrite resolution panel for the purpose of getting an all-clear certificate, or whatever is arranged in the near future.

The Minister used the word "responsibility" in respect of ensuring that we do what we can to ensure the industry steps forward. That is welcome and is probably the most positive thing that was said in the House this afternoon. As well as the standardised testing regime, I wish to refer briefly to Deputy Wallace's comment regarding the suspicion of pyrite. I will not name estates as I do not wish to cause any further distress to families whose homes are in those estates. However, it should be known that there are houses in my estate and others in north Dublin that are pyrite free, while houses a couple of doors down have significant pyrite damage. The first experience I had with pyrite was in July 2007. It was in my neighbour's house and I was able to put my fingers, up to the knuckles, into a crack in a supporting wall in their hallway. That is a significant crack. Thankfully, it has been repaired. It is one of the 700 properties the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, mentioned earlier that are being repaired. However, there are hundreds of other instances where individuals are not in pyrite affected homes but who have the constant worry of the association with pyrite. That is the reason these pyrite free certificates must be rolled out as soon as possible.

In conclusion, I wish to be as constructive as possible about this process. It is easy to point the finger of blame and say the Government did not do this, the Department did not do that and the local authorities did not do the other. What we must do now is stamp out the problem and ensure the building regulations and technical guidance documents are sufficiently robust to ensure this does not happen in the future. The Government will use the threat of the legislative option to impose a levy on the industry to ensure that affected home owners get a resolution as quickly as possible so they can move on with their lives.

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