Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McEntee for allowing me to share time with him on this important issue. In October 2007 I called on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to immediately set up a task force to tackle this urgent situation. However, the Minister took no action. He stated he would have his Department audit all quarries in the country to ascertain whether pyrite is present in the stone being used in the infill for housing. However, no report was issued on the matter. It is believed that between 2003 and February 2007 more than 2 million tonnes of stone were taken from the Irish Asphalt Limited quarry located in Bay Lane, County Dublin. To date only 100,000 tonnes or 5% of the material extracted has been traced back to the buildings and other infrastructure on which the material was used. What happened to the other 95% of that material? What happened in all the other quarries given that pyrite has turned up in various houses and various infrastructure projects including the Dublin Port tunnel and apparently also in the M3 in County Meath?

Pyrite has been detected in many developments in my constituency, Dublin North-East, in Deputy Reilly's constituency, Dublin North, and in Deputy McEntee's constituency, Meath East. As up to 20,000 homes have been affected, this is a national issue. The Government needs to wake up and deal with it head on. The Minister claimed he had no responsibility in this area yet he got the National Standards Authority of Ireland to publish additional guidance protocols for testing under-floor infill material. He is awaiting further technical guidance documentation from the European Commission. He strengthened the enforcement powers given to building control authorities after 1 March 2008. However, that is of no benefit to those householders who now find themselves in extreme difficulty where the walls and floors in their homes are cracked. Many of them are in a difficult enough position being in negative equity, but to find that the physical buildings around them are unsafe is beneath contempt.

We want the Minister to immediately close down the quarries that are dishing out this defective infill material and to set up a task force and a fund to help these house owners who find themselves in extreme difficulty through no fault of their own.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Tonight is the start of the disclosure of one of the greatest catastrophes to hit this country following the bank crisis. I do not say that lightly. HomeBond, which is in trouble, has confirmed that it has received claims from the owners of 20,000 houses with pyrite. At one stage pyrite reached Canada and is also a problem in England. Some 20,000 people have lodged claims with HomeBond which is not in a position to pay to get these houses fixed properly. The builders involved - most of them very good builders - have disclosed that their insurance companies do not cover pyrite.

I know Members of this House do not really know what pyrite is. Pyrite is a substance used in filling, which when it reaches a different atmosphere swells like gypsum. It brings all with it, including floors and walls. There is only one solution, which is for these floors to be taken up and the fill removed and replaced. I got involved with one family 12 months ago and have seen it from start to finish. Other builders have tried to do the same. HomeBond has 20,000 confirmed claims. It is far more epidemic here than in any other country.

We have no choice but to set up a committee organised by the Minister. People are coming home every night to witness further deterioration in their houses. There is no money to fix it. They do not have the money themselves to even do the proper tests to determine the level of pyrite. I have a list of projects, which I will not read out, paid for by the State that will reach the same conclusion. I ask the Minister for Transport to call in representatives of the NRA to discuss the issue of the M3. I asked the question nine months ago and got a bad answer. I am proud of the M3 and want to see it opened. The M5 in England had to be closed because of this problem. Up to last week material was still being excavated from quarries that have far in excess of the 1% pyrite allowed. Some quarries in Counties Dublin and Meath have levels of 6% and 7%. This is an environmental and financial disaster. I ask for somebody to take note of this immediately because it is not going to go away. Tonight is just the start of what we will witness in the next five or six years where people are losing their homes and nobody is there to protect them.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government would like to thank Deputies McEntee and Terence Flanagan for raising this important matter regarding the standard to which new homes are built.

The issue of pyrite was brought to the attention of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in mid-2007. Having consulted the statutory Building Regulations Advisory Body, the Department issued a circular letter to each county manager and local building control authority in August 2007 to bring this matter of pyrite to their notice and request co-operation in the enforcement of relevant requirements set out in the circular.

Following an intervention from the Department, the National Standards Authority of Ireland published a new amended standard recommendation on the use of aggregates as infill for civil engineering and road construction work. The new standard recommendation came into effect on 7 December 2007 and it is intended to address the quality standards of new homes and buildings in so far as problems relating to pyrite are concerned.

Deputies will be aware that the national building regulations, responsibility for which rests with the Minister, Deputy Gormley, set out the legal requirements for the construction of new buildings, including houses. The related technical guidance documents provide guidance on how to comply with those regulations. The Department incorporated the NSAI standard recommendation into the relevant technical guidance document, TGD-C, of the building regulations. A copy of the relevant amendment to TGD-C, which deals with site preparation and resistance to moisture, is available on the Department's website. Local authorities, the Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Home Builders' Association and other key stakeholders have also been notified of the provisions of the amended TGD-C. In addition, the Minister is aware that HomeBond, a private company which provides a ten-year structural guarantee for new houses, has included the amended NSAI standard recommendation in its published sixth edition of the house building manual.

Responsibility for compliance with the building regulations is a matter for the owner or builder of a building. Thereafter, enforcement of the building regulations is the responsibility of individual building control authorities.

The Minister is satisfied that the measures outlined represent an appropriate response by his Department and he has no proposals to establish a task force on the matter. He acknowledges fully the real difficulties experienced by homeowners whose homes have been affected by the use of pyrite in certain developments in and around Dublin. The purchase of a home is a major investment, both financially and emotionally, and he is keenly aware of the hopes and expectations which accompany that transaction. Nonetheless, he remains of the view that the resolution of problems arising between building owners and builders is a matter for the parties concerned, namely, the building owner, the relevant developer, and the builder's insurers. Where the construction of a building is the subject of a contract between the client - the housing authority in the case of publicly funded housing -and the builder, enforcement is a civil matter.