Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Pyrite has been an issue in my constituency for a number of years. My first involvement in pyrite was in getting Limerick included in the pyrite remediation scheme, which involves pyrite in the hardcore of the foundations. Limerick City and County Council had to apply to the pyrite remediation board and we succeeded in getting it included. I saw the devastation that caused for people in their homes.

Subsequently, in June of least year it came to my notice that pyrite was in the blockwork of houses in Limerick. I asked Limerick City and County Council to apply for this current mica scheme, as it is known. In layman's terms, it is about pyrite and mica in the blockwork. That is a misunderstanding for people. Limerick City and County Council agreed to do that. I wrote to the city manager at the time, and he agreed to write to the Department to get Limerick included. I welcome that it has been included. I have seen the homes. In many cases, the gable ends are effectively falling away from the house itself. It is devastating for these people.

It has happened through no fault of their own. Limerick City and County Council did great work in a short period to come up with the criteria to get Limerick included as part of this defective blocks scheme. I have a couple of comments to make. The criteria to qualify were really about showing the issue was from the blockwork upwards. The blocks could be below or above ground. However, it was not a requirement to look at pyrite in the foundations. That has to be looked at. I do not have experience in building; I am a layman. If we rebuild houses based on a scheme that stated people just had to prove that there was pyrite in the defective blocks, both overground and underground, it does not to make sense to build on foundations that were not tested and may have pyrite. We need to include the foundations in the scheme.

We have to look at the downsizing aspect. If people are willing to reduce the size of their homes, that is not unreasonable and they should be allowed to do that. The threshold needs to be looked at. We are in a phase of rising prices. I would like those matters to be considered.

There is a human dimension here. There are both young families and older people with mortgages. Through no fault of their own, their houses are effectively crumbling. They are unsafe and need to be looked at.

We have two schemes at Limerick at the moment. The current scheme is for pyrite and defective blocks. We also have a pyrite remediation scheme, which is administered by the pyrite remediation board and provides for 100% remediation for the hardcore. It is allowed for blocks underground and overground and for hardcore, but it is not allowed for foundations. For the scheme to be a true success, we must do due diligence and ensure we are not building houses on foundations with pyrite.

Limerick is a bit behind compared with Donegal. We do not fully know the number of houses that have been impacted, which worries me. We know which quarries the materials came from. The initial working group was established in Limerick in 2021. Anything further would include the Limerick Pyrite Action Group. Anne Ryan has done terrific work in the area. Individual families come to me about it. I am always reluctant to name people and, therefore, I will not but there are tremendous engineers and staff of the council who did phenomenal work in a short time. Consequently, they were successful in getting the area to qualify.

The appeal period is not sufficiently lengthy. It should be increased to 90 days. When the Minister is examining calculations of cost, Limerick should be factored in, because the calculated rates did not include it.

I welcome the scheme, which has many good aspects. If we are to have a robust scheme, we must look at the facts presented. We must look at foundations. We have the added benefit in Limerick of having the pyrite remediation scheme for the hardcore, which is an element of the foundations, for the layman. We have the mica scheme and defective blocks scheme for pyrite in the blocks both overground and underground. We need to make sure that when they build on top of the foundations, they are addressed. The most important matter is the human dimension and helping families, as I found in Limerick. We must get this right.

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