Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this Bill. I share the constituency of Dublin Bay North with Deputy Broughan who eloquently laid out the issues in question. Both of us raised this matter with the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, and his predecessor from the Green Party for some time. The Bill is a major step in the right direction in helping residents of pyrite-affected homes.

When in opposition, I, along with the now Minister, Deputy Hogan, the late Shane McEntee and the now Taoiseach, Deputy Kenny, visited some of the residents affected in the Santry area. It is one of the legacy issues of the rapid construction of homes throughout Dublin and other areas during the Celtic tiger, a sign of the madness that prevailed during the building boom.

The Bill provides for the establishment of the pyrite resolution board which will be responsible for implementing the pyrite remediation scheme. The initial funding of €10 million is quite small, however, for what will be required. The Government will provide up to €50 million to cater for an expected 1,000 affected homes. This problem, however, might be bigger than that. My colleague in the Seanad, Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, has claimed over 10,000 homes could be affected with total costs coming to €460 million. Will the Minister give some clarity as to what the final costs will be?

It must be remembered the consumer is the innocent party in all of this. They discovered the HomeBond guarantee in the pyrite case is sadly not worth the paper on which it is written, leaving those affected out to dry. I have seen at first hand the difficulties caused to relationships by this issue. On top of that, many of the home owners have to deal with negative equity and mortgage arrears. I am glad the pyrite resolution board will do what it says on the tin.

Like Deputy Broughan, I am concerned by the substantial costs for the taxpayer if a pyrite levy is not imposed on the industry which allowed this to develop. A standard testing method must be introduced as there are varying costs associated with the various testing methods currently available. While the Government claims there are only 1,000 homes affected, up to 10,300 could be affected and it will not be for many years later that their problems will emerge.

The repair work to affected homes is very intrusive and home owners have to leave their properties during the remediation. It has been claimed that the costs of flooring will not be covered under this Bill. Will the Minister clarify what is the case with this? I am concerned that some affected home owners cannot get home insurance as a consequence of informing insurance companies of their pyrite problems. While I know the Minister does not have regulatory control in this area, I hope the Financial Services Ombudsman can investigate this issue to ensure further obstacles are not put in the way of home owners once their homes have been repaired. Will the Minister confirm the date of the establishment of the pyrite resolution board?

There were several high profile court cases in this whole matter such as Mennolly Homes against Irish Asphalt and the Lagan Group which ran for 159 days. It was one of the most expensive legal cases in the State’s history. The moneys spent on legal costs could mean there is less to help the home owners badly affected. Credit must be given to Mennolly Homes which was the first construction company to publicly admit to having a problem with some of its homes, not like other developers and builders who went to ground and disappeared through bankruptcy.

Deputy Ellis raised the issue of Dublin City Council having to remedy local authority builds in Ballymun. It had to take Irish Asphalt to the High Court where, after 50 days, the judge found against the latter. This, however, will be appealed to the Supreme Court which causes more concern and stress for the residents affected.

I welcome the Bill. All affected home owners should get the necessary remediation and should not find themselves with no financial support to put right a problem which was no fault of their own. The Government also had to deal with the other issue of Priory Hall, another example of what went wrong during the Celtic tiger years. I am glad there is some white smoke in sight for home owners affected by faulty construction in the boom. The sooner the Minister gets the pyrite resolution board established and the remediation works completed, the better.

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