Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As the Topical Issue matter suggests, I am looking for an exemption under section 4.4 of the household charge legislation to grant exemptions for homes affected by the pyrite epidemic that has befallen a large number of home owners, in Leinster primarily, over recent years, estimated at 20,000 homes across north Dublin, Meath, Kildare and parts of Louth. This also presents a significant health and safety risk to home owners because of the pyrite swell in the floor slab which can cause problems opening and closing doors and in itself requires considerable remedial work. I know from my experience with my own home that this work can take a number of weeks. I ask that the Minister of State would entertain the possibility of including these homes in the list of properties exempted from the household charge. The homes affected could be termed as being in unfinished estates because these in turn will become building sites to resolve the issue. My personal experience is that the work took eight weeks and I have heard of other cases where it has taken several months to complete the work. This means the estate is in fact a building site and is therefore unfinished. I ask the Minister of State to recognise that fact.

I wish to acknowledge the establishment of the pyrite panel which will allow the individuals in question to deliberate on the possibilities for dealing in future with properties affected by pyrite. I hope the advice given to the Minister of State by the pyrite panel would include a gesture by the Government to exempt these properties. In recent months, the Government which I support has taken considerable steps in recognising pyrite. We have done more in nine months than the previous Government did since the problem came to light in July 2007. This problem affects the constituencies of the two Ministers of State present in the Chamber and at least two of my colleagues beside me who represent constituencies where this issue is very prevalent. As a home owner living in an estate with this issue, I would welcome the Minister of State's recognition of that fact by a granting of this exemption.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important issue. As he has made clear, the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, has already taken appropriate measures to address problems arising from the presence of pyrite in hard core material under the concrete ground floor slabs in housing developments.

In September 2011, the Minister established an independent panel with the remit of seeking to facilitate a resolution of pyrite contamination in private housing. This panel is chaired by Mr. Brendan Tuohy, a former Secretary General at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Other members are Mr. Noel Carroll, a former senior housing adviser in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and Mr. Malcolm Edger, a civil engineer. All three members have engineering backgrounds which is essential to the understanding of the complexities of the pyrite problem and they also bring a broad range of other skills to the panel. The panel is currently engaged in a broad-ranging consultation process with key stakeholders, including public representatives, industry representatives, including quarries and their representative bodies, local authorities, representative bodies of the insurance and banking industries, regulatory bodies and representatives of home owners affected by pyrite. The Minister has asked the chairperson of the panel to ensure its task is completed in as short a time as possible and to submit a report to him early this year. The Minister has indicated he will place this report in the public domain.

However, it must be understood that responsibility for compliance with the building regulations rests with the owner of a building and-or the builder or developer who carries out the work. The State bears no liability, a position supported by the outcome of the recent High Court case in which the quarry which supplied the hard core for a construction project was found liable for the supply of defective pyrite material. The case is currently under appeal to the Supreme Court.

As regards the household charge, the Minister will give further consideration to the position of owners of certain pyrite affected houses upon receipt of the report of the panel. The Minister will also need to consider issues surrounding the identification of relevant problematic properties.

The Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012 contain the list of unfinished estates to which a waiver of payment of the household charge will apply in 2012. This list is also available from the website, www.householdcharge.ie. Some estates which are in Deputy Farrell's constituency may be included in that list.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am delighted to note that the response does not dismiss my suggestion of the possibility that the Minister and the pyrite panel might take on board the suggestion. Through no fault of the home owners, considerable expense will be required to rectify this problem. I would welcome the opportunity to speak to the pyrite panel members as I understand they will finalise their deliberations soon. Perhaps the members of the pyrite panel and the Minister might attend the Joint Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht to discuss this matter further. I thank the Minister of State for his comments.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I will ensure the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, is informed of the Deputy's views and suggestions and that he will respond directly to Deputy Farrell as soon as possible.