Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him on his appointment as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I raise an issue which is close to my heart, as my own home was affected by the issue and remediated three years ago. I have thankfully not had difficulty in obtaining insurance, as the firm with which I have my mortgage is also my insurer and it would not be in its interest to refuse insurance. That is not the case for many hundreds of other properties right across north Leinster, from the fringe between Dublin and Fingal to Malahide, Swords, Rush, Lusk and as far away as Meath, Louth and parts of Kildare. The Pyrite Remediation Board has stated that as many as 12,000 properties are affected, of which only a portion will be remediated by the board and the Housing Agency. My aim is to bring to the attention of the Minister the difficulties property owners are having in obtaining quotes for home insurance policies to cover fire, theft and structural problems. Through no fault of their own, these people own properties which have pyrite. This is the case for more than 1,000 properties across north Leinster which have been remediated and many hundreds more which the Pyrite Remediation Board and the Housing Agency propose to remediate in the coming months and years.

Currently, there is no obligation for an insurance company to issue a quotation or insurance policy for home insurance, but when one considers that mortgage protection policies, which are often linked to home insurance policies, and similar policies are being refused, it is obvious that it is not in the public interest for this issue to be allowed to fester. I draw the attention of the Minister of State to the consumer protection code, which is administered by the Financial Services Ombudsman under the auspices of the Department of Finance, where Deputy Harris is Minister of State. An arrangement is in place whereby, in theory, if a policy is refused, the ombudsman can direct an insurance company to provide a quote. I would like to see us reaching agreement on this rather than having to go in with some sort of legislative response that might have unintended consequences. I draw the attention of the Minister of State to the voluntary code that exists in the motor insurance industry among the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Irish Insurance Federation and individual insurance companies. Over the last 30 years, they have agreed to a committee structure which acts an appeals mechanism. If an individual is refused three quotes, he or she may take the first quote to the committee, which will adjudicate on it. It may require the first company that refused insurance to provide a quote to the motor vehicle owner. I would like to see the creation of a similar system whereby a committee can be comprised of the individual insurance companies and, perhaps, the Financial Services Ombudsman, taking into account the consumer protection code. I would like to see the Department and perhaps even the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, head it up, as it is a matter related directly to housing, an area in which Deputy Coffey has a great deal of experience. The Department should convene a meeting with the relevant stakeholders, including the insurance companies, the Pyrite Remediation Board, the insurance federation and a number of Departments. Insurance falls under the remit of a number of Departments; it is not restricted to the housing area. The Department of Finance would be involved in any legislative changes that might need to be brought in. The aim is to ensure that homeowners who have had pyrite remediation carried out on their properties and, on paper at least, have no issue with the pyrite scourge that has befallen many properties across north Leinster have an option to insure their homes so that they are covered if something happens.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important matter of concern. While my Department has no regulatory function in the area of insurance or insurance-based products, I will raise this issue with the appropriate regulatory bodies and Departments and will be supportive of any proposals that may be put forward by them in this matter.

The pyrite remediation scheme, which was published by the Pyrite Resolution Board in February 2014, was developed having regard to the recommendations set out in the report of the independent pyrite panel. The scheme is one of last resort and applies to dwellings with significant pyritic damage. The scheme is fundamentally a works scheme aimed at remediating pyrite-damaged homes to Irish Standard 398-2:2013, Reactive Pyrite in Sub-floor Hardcore Material - Part 2: Methodology for Remediation Works, published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland in January 2013, to ensure the restoration of the quality that affected homeowners expect and are entitled to. All works under the scheme will be completed to the required standard by competent builders and overseen by construction professionals in accordance with the requirements of the board and the Housing Agency. At the end of the works, homeowners will be provided with certification to confirm that their homes have been remediated to the appropriate standard. Given that the contaminated hardcore will be removed and replaced with compliant material and all damage remediated, any risk to the structural integrity of remediated homes will be eliminated, thereby removing any impediment towards the future insurance of these homes.

As matters stand, approximately 560 applications have been received by the board, of which 375 have been validated and referred to the Housing Agency for the next stage in the process: assessment, verification and recommendation. In the region of 150 dwellings have now been recommended for inclusion in the pyrite remediation scheme and the applicants have been notified accordingly. The first remediation works under the scheme commenced earlier this month on a small group of houses in a development in north Dublin.

Given that IS 398:2013 - Part 2 sets out a clear methodology for the remediation of dwellings with pyritic heave, and the fact that all dwellings under the pyrite remediation scheme will be remediated to that standard, as indeed may other dwellings outside the scheme, I urge all insurance providers to reconsider their position in these matters and provide the insurance cover that homeowners need for peace of mind, notwithstanding any obligations they may have under their mortgage conditions.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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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.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy and assure him that the issue will be raised with the statutory bodies and Departments involved in the regulation and oversight of insurance.

I will be fully supportive of any proposals that may be put forward to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the difficulties homeowners with pyrite damage are facing even when remediation has been carried out. I also expect the insurance industry to respond. I am confident that all homes remediated to "Irish Standard 398-2:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material — Part 2: Methodology for remediation works" published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, will be fully compliant with the appropriate requirements of our national building regulations and will be restored to the quality homeowners expect and are entitled to. Accordingly, there are no valid reasons why insurance cannot be provided to homeowners whose homes have been remediated to this standard given that the risk of any further pyrite damage will have been removed and existing damage will have been repaired and properly certified by a competent professional. I call on all insurance providers to reconsider their policy on this matter and to provide the insurance cover that such homeowners require to ensure their homes are protected against future unforeseen risk.