Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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188. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 28 of 17 November 2016, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the pyrite report specifically recommended prioritising properties with a damage condition rating of one with progression and two when combined with certain infill test results and not as is consistently stated, that the scheme provides for only properties with a damage condition rating of two and one with progression in exceptional circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38436/16]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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One of the key recommendations of the (June 2012) was the development of a protocol which would facilitate the testing and categorisation of dwellings in order to establish if there is reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material and whether it has caused pyritic heave. In response to this particular recommendation, I.S. 398-1:2013 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and Categorisation was published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland in January 2013. I.S. 398-1:2013 is a national standard which provides the means by which dwellings, which may be affected by pyritic heave, can be tested and categorised; it is this standard, not the Report of the Pyrite Panel, which introduced the concept of Building Condition Assessments and the means by which Damage Condition Ratings could be assigned.

In this regard, the definition of significant pyritic damage as set out in section 4 of the is also consistent with the meaning provided in I.S. 398-1:2013 and with the traffic light system used by the Pyrite Panel as a means of prioritising pyrite remediation works in recognition of the expensive and intrusive nature of pyrite remediation and the unpredictability of pyritic heave. Dwellings with a Damage Condition Rating of 1 (with progression), which is consistent with pyritic heave and where the hardcore is susceptible to significant or limited expansion, fall within the meaning of significant pyritic damage as do those with a Damage Condition Rating of 2. This is equivalent to the “red category” used by the Pyrite Panel to signal that remediation works should be carried out.

The Act provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency. The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” and is limited in its application and scope. In this context, section 14(4) of the Act explicitly provides that the Board may exclude dwellings with a damage condition rating of 1 (with progression). This ensures that, having regard to available resources, the focus of the scheme is on dwellings which are most severely damaged by pyritic heave.