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

I thank the Minister of State for his response. My home was remediated three years ago last month. While I outlined at the outset that I do not personally have difficulty obtaining insurance, properties in my estate have changed hands in the meantime and a number of individuals have struggled to get insurance. My particular concern is cases in which properties have been remediated, the necessary certification of remediation has been provided and the NSAI standard under the 2013 regulations has been adhered to.

In certain instances the Housing Agency has commenced remediation of properties under the scheme, on which I compliment the Department, but insurance companies are still refusing cover. The reason they have outlined is that in order to assess a structural problem with the property, they must first rule out pyrite, which costs money. They are not prepared to take the risk. In effect, we are talking about an insurance policy which does not cover structural problems. If a property has a structural fault, whatever it might be, the family cannot get insurance. This prevents properties from being sold in certain instances, as the purchaser is aware that the property has been remediated and knows he or she will have difficulty getting insurance. I have been contacted by brokers and I have contacted underwriters directly and been told the same thing throughout the conversations I have had, which is that these firms will not insure pyrite-affected properties even after they have been remediated, as it costs money for them to exclude the possibility of pyritic heave or structural damage having been caused over preceding years, even with current certification.

The suggestion I have set out to the Minister of State is a possible step the Department or the Minister of State's own office could spearhead with a view to ensuring families have recourse. We could rely on the existing model in the motor insurance industry to establish a cross-departmental, cross-industry group to agree a similar approach, which I believe will resolve the matter for what is only a small number of properties. We are only talking about a few hundred properties in the large scheme of things. It would certainly put the owners' minds at rest in terms of being able to insure their own properties in the future.

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