Tag Archives: Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme

THE founder of the Clare Pyrite Action Group has warned of the serious mental and physical impact of any delays in extending redress to homeowners in this county. Dr Martina Cleary welcomed the news week that, last Friday, the local authority made a detailed submission to the Department of Housing asking that The Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, which is currently only open to Mayo and Donegal, be extended to Clare. She cautioned, however, that any delay on the part of the government would have a detrimental effect on the mental and physical health of those living in defective homes. “The minister now has everything he needs to make the decision to extend the scheme,” Dr Cleary said. “He has the proof that the problem is the same as in County Mayo. There is no reason now to delay. The longer we’re left out of the redress scheme, the more our homes are going to deteriorate. What’s worse is that …

THE leader of Sinn Féin expressed her “shock” at the damage caused by pyrite to a family home in East Clare and pledged that her party will do all in its power to ensure homeowners get 100% redress to rebuild their lives. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald made her remarks on a visit to Kilkishen this week where she was briefed by the Clare Pyrite Action Group and saw first-hand the home of Dan Moloney and his wife Teresa. The family built their home 23 years ago, and have recently learned that the severe cracks in the building are due to pyrite. “It’s very shocking,” Deputy McDonald said. “When you consider the case of Danny and Teresa, they were working in New York planning to come home to raise their family here in this wonderful part of Clare, invest their hard-earned money in their family’s forever home and now they’re faced with this. The damage to the house is very, very …

CLARE’S Sinn Féin TD has sharply criticised the fact that Clare people, whose homes have defects proven to be linked to pyrite, must continue to pay Local Property Tax (LPT). Deputy Violet Anne Wynne, who last week raised the issue in the Dáil with the Tánaiste, said the lack of action for homeowners here is a source of huge frustration. The Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme is only open to Counties Mayo and Donegal and covers a maximum of 90% of remediation costs. Earlier this month, the government announced that those eligible for the scheme would get a six-year LPT waiver. Because Clare has not yet been included in the redress scheme, the LPT exemption does not apply here. Currently, at the request of the Department of Housing, Clare County Council is compiling a report on the scale of the pyrite issue here, with a view to making the case for the extension of the scheme. “Homeowners in Clare still …

THE possibility that a major public building has defective concrete blocks has been raised in the Dáil by a local TD, who said that if this proves to be the case, it will put Clare “to the top of the list” in terms of government support. Deputy Cathal Crowe made an impassioned plea for Clare homeowners affected by pyrite and/mica to be given equal access to redress scheme and a Local Property Tax (LPT) exemption, currently only available in Donegal and Mayo. Addressing the Minister for Finance, he was sharply critical of the scope of the existing Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, which offers a maximum of 90% of remediation costs to homeowners in those two counties. “I am of the view that a major public building in a certain county has pyrite in it,” Deputy Crowe told the chamber. “Many people hope it does not. I hope it does for the simple reason it will advance the cause of …

THREE generations of a Kilkishen family are “heart-broken” at the prospect of losing their home, after expert tests confirmed the presence of pyrite. Dan Moloney told The Champion of the family’s devastation and his fears for his elderly father-in-law and daughter who also live in the house. “We are in a living nightmare and we honestly don’t know if half the house is going to be gone when we wake up each morning,” Mr Moloney said. “My father-in-law is a widower. The man is 90 and he’s blind. When he hears noises in the night, he thinks it’s thunder, but I’m afraid it’s actually the sound of the house cracking. From day to day, it’s getting worse. We can’t close the back door anymore because the walls are bulging. We’re tried all the fixes going, but it’s at the stage now where we can’t keep patching it up. I’m a broken man, but I’m more worried about my family than …

THE government has been accused of “outrageous discrimination”, in excluding Clare from a new exemption on Local Property Tax (LPT) for homeowners who have defective concrete blocks. As the Finance Minister unveiled legislation that will bring in a raft of changes to the way LPT is levied, Dr Martina Cleary of the Clare Pyrite Action Group hit out at the failure to acknowledge the proven presence of pyrite in a number of homes across this county. Under the new LPT rules, outlined by Minister Paschal Donohue, affected homeowners in Donegal and Mayo, will now be given a temporary exemption. The redress scheme for those affected by pyrite and mica currently only covers those counties. As the local authority prepares to make the case for Clare’s inclusion in the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, Dr Cleary said she sees no reason why the exemption couldn’t be made available to homeowners in Clare who can have the documents required to prove they …

DEPUTY Joe Carey has been told that a decision to extend a redress scheme to Clare homeowners affected by pyrite is “premature” until a full report on the extent of the problem has been compiled, writes Fiona McGarry. The Fine Gael TD tabled a questions to the Minister for Housing asking him to report on work to incorporate Clare in the defective concrete block scheme and whether homeowners will be eligible for 100% of the costs. Responding, Minister Darragh O’Brien outlined how Clare County Council is compiling a report on the extent of the problem in this county. “Such analysis will provide the evidential basis necessary for the consideration of any extension of the scheme,” he said. “Pending the receipt of and consideration of such analysis it would be premature to consider an extension of the scheme,” the minister added. In respect of the existing scheme which only covers Mayo and Donegal, Minister O’Brien said he expects a review being …

A CALL has been made for a Clare representative to be appointed to a committee reviewing the defective concrete blocks scheme, in the hope that redress might be extended to homeowners in this county. In the Seanad this week, Senator Timmy Dooley said the lives of homeowners in Clare and elsewhere have been “decimated” by the presence of defects caused by pyrite and mica. The matter was raised in the upper house by Senator Dooley and two party colleagues, Lisa Chambers and Niall Blaney. Senators Chambers and Blaney, representing Mayo and Donegal respectively, which are covered by the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, called for the redress to be increased from a maximum of 90% to 100%. Senator Dooley told the house the scheme must be extended to this county, where the extent of the issue is only becoming known. “…There is a real issue with defective blocks in County Clare,” the Fianna Fáil senator said. “It is not mica …