Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

631. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the spend on the pyrite remediation scheme for each year since its introduction; the number of units remediated in each year; and the estimated future costs for homes approved for the scheme but at which work has not yet taken place. [23637/18]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency.

The provisions of the Act apply only to dwellings affected by significant damage attributable to pyritic heave consequent on the presence of reactive pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material and not to damage arising in any other circumstance, e.g. such as pyrite in concrete blocks.

The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” for affected homeowners who have no other practical option to obtain redress and is limited in its application and scope. The full conditions for eligibility under the scheme are set out in the scheme which is available on the Board’s website, www.pyriteboard.ie.

The scheme is applicable to dwellings, which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave established, in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2017 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol. In this regard, it is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment with a Damage Condition Rating of 2. Dwellings which do not have a Damage Condition Rating of 2 are not eligible to apply under the scheme. This ensures that, having regard to the available resources, the focus of the scheme is on dwellings which are most severely damaged by pyritic heave. I have no proposals to amend this eligibility criterion.

Some €2.2 million was provided to the Housing Agency in 2014 to meet expenditure incurred under the scheme in respect of design work, contractors, expenses to homeowners, operational costs, and the administrative costs to the Housing Agency. The remediation of 5 dwellings was completed in the final quarter of that year.

An additional sum of €10 million was made available in Budget 2015 to fund the operation of the scheme in 2015, when a further 148 dwellings had remedial works completed under the scheme.

€26.6 million was provided for the scheme in 2016 and some 400 dwellings were remediated under the scheme that year. Last year, some €25 million was provided, facilitating the remediation of some 400 additional dwellings, giving an aggregate total of 945 dwellings completed from when the scheme was first introduced up to the end of 2017.

A sum of €30 million was announced under Budget 2018 to fund the operation of the pyrite remediation scheme this year, of which €9.25 million has already been drawn down by the Housing Agency. This allocation will facilitate the remediation of some 430 additional dwellings and is a clear signal of the continuing importance attached by Government to addressing the issue of significant pyritic damage in private dwellings.

The latest figures available indicate that a total of 2,058 applications have been received under the pyrite remediation scheme. Of these, 1,622 dwellings have been included in the scheme and the applicants notified accordingly. A further 94 applications have been validated and referred to the Housing Agency for the Assessment and Verification Process, while another 212 applications are at the initial Application and Validation stage. 130 applications under the scheme were not successful.

Of the 1,622 dwellings that have been included in the pyrite remediation scheme:

- 235 are at remedial works planning stage,

- 111 are at tender / tender analysis,

- 51 are at tender decision,

- 167 are under remediation, and

- 1,058 are complete.

Applications under the scheme continue to be received at a rate of approximately 10 per week; this rate is likely to be maintained over the course of 2018. It is likely that by the end of 2018, approximately 2,400 applications may have been received under the scheme and in the region of 1,400 dwellings will have remedial works completed; this would suggest that approximately 1,000 dwellings may still be in need of remedial works. It is unlikely that applications will cease entirely post end-2018 but will begin to reduce at a gradual rate over time.

The average all in cost of remediation in 2016 was in the region of €70,000 per dwelling. There can, however, be significant variation in costs, with one-off houses generally having larger ground floor areas being the most expensive.

Ultimately, the Pyrite Remediation Board, together with the Housing Agency, will arrange for all eligible dwellings to be remediated to a high standard and at no additional cost to the affected homeowners. Remediation works will continue to be carried out at the earliest possible opportunity having regard to the existing demands of the scheme and the optimum use of available resources.