‘We’re the only people paying the price’

Several hundred homeowners from all parts of Mayo, who are impacted by the pyrite scandal, gathered at the Great National Hotel in Ballina for a public meeting last Monday, April 15. 

Since 2013, homeowners in Mayo have been campaigning to deliver a fit-for-purpose scheme with 100% redress to enable them to rebuild their homes. However, last Monday’s meeting heard of several issues that homeowners have faced - and continue to face - in their attempts to rebuild their homes under the terms of the current Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme. Several TDs, MEPs and local councillors were also in attendance.

Meeting organiser Martina Hegarty, of the North Mayo Pyrite Group, who organised the meeting, said the existing scheme is not fit for purpose.

“We now have access to a grant scheme that only partially delivers for everybody. Some 400 families have applied so far but we expect 1,000 more individuals and families in Mayo to be impacted by this,” she said.

Among the issues faced include the lack of available administrative resources in Mayo County Council to deal with scheme applications, crumbling boundary walls in estates that are not covered by the scheme, engineers' fees, making ancillary grant allocations available upfront, removing financial penalties for applicants, the demolition of semi-detached homes, the damage threshold limit and the lack of an appeals board and the inconsistency of decisions made by the Housing Agency.

Homeowners also believe there is a failure to deliver when it comes to testing foundations and are very disappointed that grants from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) are not available for the replacement of windows and doors. Instead, they are being told to reinstate windows and doors that, in some cases, date back 20 years.  There is also a lack of alternative temporary or rental accommodation and a failure to make retrospective payments to those who remediated their homes before the availability of any scheme.

There was also a call for a public inquiry into the entire issue and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

“None of us are here because of anything that we did yet we’re the only people paying the price. Those responsible need to be made accountable,” said Ms Hegarty.

Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh said all of these issues can be fixed quickly if the will is there from Government parties.

Fianna Fail Minister of State Dara Calleary said the current scheme is far from perfect but there is a framework in which it can be made to work.

Fine Gael Minister of State Alan Dillon and TD Michael Ring were not present. 

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh said she was a firm believer in 100% redress and stressed that mental health supports should be put in place for all affected by this issue.

Independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan said he is hopeful that the EU’s Petitions Committee can make a difference for affected homeowners, adding that pressure needs to be kept on for this issue to be resolved once and for all.

The meeting also heard from homeowners regarding the impact that pyrite has had on their finances, mental health and family stability.