Mayo pyrite homeowners "at their wits end" due to mounting financial pressures
This pyrite-invested block literally disintegrates in the hand in a garden in Ballina.
Mayo councillors have called on the local authority to provide top up mortgages for pyrite victims.
“Many homeowners are at their wits end,” said Cllr Mark Duffy.
He and his fellow Ballina councillors have requested that Mayo County Council write to Government Ministers to create a fund available for local authorities to address the repair of pyrite estates.
Cllrs urged the local authority to make top up mortgages available on council loans for homeowners whose properties have been ravaged by pyrite.
Cllr Peter Flynn said there are 25-30 such homeowners in his constituency of Westport. “It’s shocking what has happened,” said Cllr Flynn. He said homeowners are unable to get the necessary work carried out without the top up.
Mayo County Council’s Head of Finance, Peter Duggan, said it is his view that the grant should cover everything but the local authority will ask if the facility can be made available.
The original Defective Concrete Block Scheme being signed into law in January 2020. This was replaced by the Enhanced Defective Concrete Block Scheme in 2021 to help homeowners in counties Clare, Limerick, Donegal and Mayo whose houses have been damaged.
