Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

2:30 pm

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

We have been repeatedly told in the past 48 hours that no decision has been taken on the proposed closure of Cavan, Mullingar and Clonmel Army barracks and the possibility of the closure of Kilkenny and Castlebar as well. The Army community has been informed in particular that Cavan, Mullingar and Clonmel will be closed. This will affect 550 soldiers plus their families. I need not tell Members the effect this will have on these communities socially and economically. Will the Leader give clarity on this situation? Has the Government decided to close these barracks? What is the situation? We all agree that this is not something with which our soldiers and their families should have to live. If the Government is going to do something and close these barracks, it should, at the least, tell people and not allow the matter to be drip-fed through the media.

On 15 September, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, established a pyrite committee of affected bodies and experts. Is the Government aware that the committee has not met yet? When is it due to meet and report? I spent most of yesterday morning in houses in my constituency which have been affected by pyrite and which are being remediated. At the moment there are only 700 houses in the country that are being remediated and in which the pyrite problem is being fixed. Figures I have show that up to 72,500 private dwellings are affected by this issue as well as many schools HSE centres, the M3 motorway and other infrastructural projects. I bring this to the attention of the Leader because the Minister has stated that the State will have no liability in this matter, but I disagree with him completely. Under the building control and enforcement laws our local authorities will end up with this issue if it is not dealt with speedily.

Most important, the Statute of Limitations for home owners is six years. Many of the people affected by this bought their houses in 2005, 2006 and 2007. There is an urgent need for the Government to deal with this issue especially in light of the fact that HomeBond has decided not to honour its commitments in this matter. Home owners will have no recourse to their insurers once the Statute of Limitations expires, that is to say, after six years. The majority of this housebuilding took place in the affected areas of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and the surrounding areas. People bought these houses in 2006 so next year the Statute of Limitations runs out for them. When will the committee meet? Has the Minister set a timeline for the committee to report? This side of the House is preparing a Bill to deal with this specific issue and we will bring it to the House. I saw the level of work required to be done to bring houses back up to standard. It is a distressing situation for thousands of home owners but we have only scratched the surface. Some 700 houses are being redone at the moment but the numbers affected could be 72,500.

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