Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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773. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of building condition assessments with damage condition rating 2 received by the Pyrite Resolution Board to date; and the number of houses remediated since the Pyrite Resolution Board began accepting the assessments in August 2013 [30304/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The pyrite remediation scheme, which was first published by the Pyrite Resolution Board in February of 2014, was developed having regard to, inter alia, the recommendations set out in the Report of the Pyrite Panel (July 2012) and the relevant provisions of the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013. The full conditions for eligibility are set out in the scheme, which is available on the Board’s website at www.pyriteboard.ie. It is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment, carried out by a competent person in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol, indicating a Damage Condition Rating of 2.

As at 30 June 2015, a total of 763 completed applications had been received under the pyrite remediation scheme of which 520 dwellings had been included in the scheme and the applicants notified accordingly; my Department understands that 519 of these dwellings had Damage Condition Ratings of 2. In addition, 117 applications had been validated and referred to the Housing Agency for the Assessment and Verification stage of the process; all of these applications were accompanied by Building Condition Assessments with Damage Condition Ratings of 2. A further 115 applications were at the initial Application and Validation stage of the scheme; given that the initial validation has not been completed on these applications, the number of Building Conditions Assessments with Damage Condition Ratings of 2 has yet to be confirmed.

The remaining 11 applications (of the 763 total) were closed on the grounds that they did not meet the eligibility criteria of the scheme or were duplicate applications etc.

Of the 520 dwellings that had been included in the pyrite remediation scheme as at the end of June 2015: remediation works had been completed on 21 dwellings; remediation works were underway in respect of a further 132 dwellings; and 367 dwellings were at the remedial works planning / tender preparation stages of the process.

On completion of remediation works, each scheme participant receives a signed Certificate of Remediation in accordance with Annex B of I.S. 398-2: 2013: Reactive pyrite in the sub-floor hardcore material – Part 2: Methodology for remediation works, for the dwelling.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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774. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to assist persons who find pyrite in the blockwork of their homes; the help he will provide; if he will consider the introduction of a grant scheme to assist them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30338/15]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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775. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider introducing an amendment to the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 to include those affected with pyrite in their blocks, rather than confining the pyrite remediation scheme only to those who have reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30340/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 774 and 775 together.

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 a small number of local authority estates in County Mayo involving some 17 dwellings.

Similar to the position in County Mayo, my Department also met with a number of private homeowners from County Donegal in December last year whose homes are also affected by structural problems in the blockwork. In addition, I visited a number of the affected dwellings in Donegal in late February of this year. Test reports on the affected concrete blocks, which had previously been commissioned by a number of the affected homeowners, were made available to my Department in order to provide a more detailed and scientific insight into the problems being faced by the affected homeowners.

Having regard to the information available to my Department, a technical report has been prepared for my consideration; I intend to complete my deliberations in these matters shortly.

The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the pyrite remediation scheme and while the Act provides that the scheme can be amended, replaced or revoked, this can only be done in accordance with the scope of the Act. The provisions of the Act apply only to dwellings affected by significant damage attributable to pyritic heave resulting from the presence of reactive pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material and not to damage arising in any other circumstances, such as the presence of contaminants in concrete blocks as appears to be the case in Counties Mayo and Donegal. I have no proposals to amend the Act in this regard.