Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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525. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views regarding the measures he proposes to take to compensate home owners who were forced to remediate properties at their own expense, as a result of the inadequacy of the home bond insurance scheme, whereby they remediated their properties as they were unsafe, in advance of the pyrite resolution scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27139/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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535. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he has plans to amend the pyrite resolution scheme so that those home owners who had to refurbish their houses at their own expense prior to the initiation of the scheme will be compensated due to the enormous burden of ongoing payments in that regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27140/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 525 and 535 together.

The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework within which the pyrite remediation scheme must operate. It is not a compensation scheme and Section 14(8) of the Act explicitly provides that homeowners cannot seek the recoupment of costs associated with the remediation of a dwelling undertaken outside of the pyrite remediation scheme. I have no plans to amend the legislation in this regard.

The Pyrite Remediation Scheme is a scheme of “last resort” for affected homeowners who have no other practical option to obtain redress. Inclusion in the scheme is predicated, inter alia, on the dwelling being subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave, and where this can be verified having regard to I.S. 398 -1:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and Categorisation, as published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, prior to works commencing. This is in line with how similar Government schemes operate or have operated in the past, where prior approval is a key eligibility requirement for inclusion in a scheme.

In general, building defects are matters for resolution between the 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 is available.