Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Before I commence, I want to welcome what the Minister of State said, namely, that while wind farms and renewable energy are essential for our future, that cannot be to the detriment of the existing ecosystem and environment. There was almost a race to zone areas suitable for wind farms by local authorities, all of whom were acting with the best of intentions. Some of the areas zoned are suitable but others are not. The amount of carbon utilised in constructing wind farms does not render them nearly as effective.

I will move on to the issue of a pyrite compensation scheme. As the Minister of State knows, there are a couple of different pyrite schemes in place. One is a broad scheme dealing with concrete. One scheme was introduced this summer by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who travelled to Buncrana to announce a new defective concrete blocks scheme in August. The scheme offers five remedial options. Separate grant limits apply to each option, ranging from €247,500 for the complete demolition and rebuilding of a dwelling to €49,500 for the demolition and rebuilding of the outer leaf of affected walls only. Funding is subject to option limits or 90% of the eligible works, whichever is the lesser.

It is of course welcome that the scheme has been announced for Donegal and Mayo. However, the problem is not, unfortunately, unique to Donegal and Mayo. In my constituency, Clare, a number of houses have been found to be essentially crumbling, without exaggerating the matter, as a result of defective concrete blocks. Owners have had engineers examine the dwellings and it has been found that it is as a result of pyrite in the concrete.

One manufacturer of concrete blocks in the mid-west, that I do not intend to name in the House, links all of those buildings. It is an issue which goes beyond Clare. I understand 35 people are involved in an action group and approximately 33 houses have been identified in Clare. Unfortunately, there is a belief that the problem extends outside of Clare to other areas in the mid-west because it is a result of concrete blocks from one particular manufacturer.

If the Government saw fit to fund a scheme like this in respect of Mayo and Donegal, which I welcome, I see no reason whatsoever my constituents and any other constituents in the country who suffer from exactly the same problem should not be treated in exactly the same way by the Government. It is a matter of basic equality. I urge the Department to consider extending the scheme to Clare.

I am raising this as a Topical Issue matter because I asked a parliamentary question of the Department and was told there were no plans to introduce a scheme. That does not accord with what various Government representatives have said in the constituency. I hope they are right, that the Minister is actively looking at this issue and that an announcement is imminent. It is wrong and improper to differentiate between people with the same problem in Mayo and Donegal or in Clare.

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