Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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257. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to visit property owners in north Mayo who have been affected by pyrite; the supports that have been offered to similar owners in County Donegal; if he will extend these supports to the home owners in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9805/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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While I fully appreciate and acknowledge the extremely difficult and distressing situations that householders have to deal with when faced with the consequences of poor workmanship or the use of defective materials, in general, building defects are matters for resolution between contracting parties, i. e. the homeowner, the builder, the supplier and/or their respective insurers. In the event that the parties cannot reach a settlement by negotiation the option of seeking redress in the Courts can be considered. In this context, I believe that the parties responsible for poor workmanship and/or the supply of defective materials should face up to their responsibilities and take appropriate actions to provide remedies for the affected homeowners.

In March of last year, my Department met with a number of private homeowners from County Mayo whose homes are affected by structural problems. The problems appear to concern approximately 15 private houses and the period of construction for the houses involved was 1997 to 2002. My Department was also made aware of problems associated with the cracking of concrete blocks in approximately three local authority estates in County Mayo involving some 17 dwellings.

Similar to the position in County Mayo, my Department met with a number of private homeowners from County Donegal in December last. At that meeting, my Department requested copies of test reports from accredited laboratories, that may have been commissioned from homeowners, on the affected concrete blocks in order to provide a robust and scientific insight into the problems that have emerged in north Donegal. I understand that arrangements are now underway to forward copies of such reports to my Department which will be considered in due course.