Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, who I believe will be spending many hours with us today. I congratulate the Government on introducing the Bill and the Minister's personal commitment to the issue has been noteworthy. It is long overdue for the many homeowners who have been victims of what is known as pyritic heave. Such a technical term belies the human misery suffered by individuals who found themselves trapped in homes they could not either sell or afford to repair and where the structural damage was extensive.

While the figures vary around the country, some 12,500 properties were damaged by this pyritic heave following the building boom. When this occurs, remediation costs on average €40,000 to €50,000 per home and involves the removal of the ground slab containing the pyritic material and its replacement with a new ground slab. It is very invasive and involves the family leaving the home, storing their furniture and engaging in fairly extensive renovations.

Some homeowners were fortunate enough to be covered by the premier guarantee, an insurance scheme operating in the construction sector and others had developers who made repairs. However, as we know, many homeowners were covered by HomeBond, which following a High Court decision in 2011 withdrew insurance cover for pyritic heave damage.

As has already been mentioned, the confirmed areas for pyritic heave were mostly concentrated in north Leinster, particularly in north County Dublin, Offaly, Meath and Louth. However, we need to bear in mind that in 2007 alone we built more than 80,000 housing units and we do not know the full extent of the problem. During the property boom the volume of quarried stone increased threefold between 1993 and 2007. In Fingal, Meath and adjacent areas, non-premium aggregate was supplied to meet this demand. While this would not have complied with the standards set by HomeBond, at the time there was no effective testing system to detect it.

The Minister established the independent panel which reported in June 2012. It is worth reading the executive summary of the pyrite panel report for a complete understanding of what happened. It is clear that no blame falls on the Government for its failure to uncover what some would have termed unacceptable practices that developed during the boom, including a lack of documentation setting out where backfill was sourced for housing. Today we are dealing with the last vestiges of some of the recklessness of the property boom. The pyrite panel made 24 recommendations, including establishing a new standard or specification for hard core under concrete floors, testing certification and traceability by quarries, evidence of periodic testing and so forth. However, in this instance the stable door and horse come to mind. In future we will not have this difficulty.

The Government has announced the allocation of €10 million to repair homes damaged by pyrite and the Bill before us sets out the manner in which this is to be achieved. I am concerned that the scheme will be confined to those homeowners who have no other way of rectifying the damage pyrite caused to their homes. The pyritic damage needs to be serious enough to meet specified criteria. It is a scheme of last resort. The Minister has explained why that is the case from the Government's perspective. However, there should be recourse for homeowners who do not qualify for the scheme or who have already paid out of their own scarce resources to remedy the damage. Through my work I am aware of many individuals who lived from day to day with gaping walls and enormous cracks in rooms, making them simply uninhabitable.

Nobody in their right minds, who could possibly raise the money to make the remedies, would continue to live like this. I would have preferred to have seen a compensation fund paid for by the various interested parties involved in the construction of those affected homes. That fund should have been established to remedy the damage that remains and compensate those who, themselves, paid to remedy the damage.

I believe the quarries involved, the construction sector and the insurance sector should be paying. HomeBond withdrawing cover in 2011 shows a serious defect in the protection given to homebuyers.