Pyrite scheme is ‘not working’ for many homeowners
Homeowners are having to come up with large upfront payments while their homes are "falling down around them".
Candidates in the upcoming local and European elections are expected to be invited to a major public meeting in Ballina in the coming weeks over ongoing concerns around the pyrite redress scheme.
A private meeting of around 300 frustrated homeowners took place at the Merry Monk in Ballina last Tuesday.
The meeting, organised by the North Mayo Pyrite Group, was mostly made up of people from areas in North Mayo and Erris, but there were also homeowners in attendance from Castlebar and Westport. Several issues were raised around the redress scheme and the challenges being met by families and homeowners at every stage of the process.
Sinn Féin candidate in the Ballina municipal district, Una Morris, was among the attendees. She said while homeowners were appreciative of the work being put in by frontline clerical staff at Mayo County Council in dealing with scheme applications, it is clear the council is under-resourced.
“Sufficient resources were to be put in place at local authority level to deal with the growing number of applicants to the enhanced scheme,” she said. “Since the enhanced scheme was launched and the Housing Agency brought in, the process seems to have an added layer of bureaucracy and is more complicated with worse delays than before.”
Financing and large upfront payments are also providing massive difficulties for homeowners, with much frustration expressed over the fact that the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is not providing grants for new windows and doors.
“Some engineers require partial or full down payment upfront and this is causing additional financial strain for families already dealing with a home that is falling down around them," said Ms Morris. “Another problem is that the SEAI upgrade funding stream for pyrite homeowners has still not been activated. According to one speaker, the SEAI says they will maintain a list of pyrite-related applications but without the scheme going live, what is the point? These homeowners cannot apply through the normal channels."
Other issues include a lack of available rental properties and storage facilities, boundary walls and the lack of clarity around the testing of foundations. One attendee told the meeting he paid €7,000 for testing and was then not granted access to the scheme. He was told to appeal the decision within 28 days, but no appeals committee has been set up.
More than 400 homeowners have already applied for the scheme in Mayo and Martina Hegarty, from the North Mayo Pyrite Group, expects another 1,000 homeowners to apply.
“There was a lot of concern in the room. There were people from different residents' groups who attended and they were sharing information and collecting insights and then going back to share it with their members."
She said they intend to invite TDs, MEPs, councillors and local and European election candidates in Mayo to their next meeting.
