Tag Archives: Minister Darragh O’Brien

A RETIRED Drumline couple have made an emotional appeal to the housing minister for funds to repair their severely cracked house, saying they don’t have a decade to wait. Pensioners Mary and Séamus Hanley showed Darragh O’Brien the devastating impact of pyrite when he visited their home last Friday. “Some of us, like myself, are on our pensions and we certainly don’t have forever to wait,” Mrs Hanley said. “I don’t have ten years to wait. I could be six foot under, at that stage, but I want my house replaced and repaired.” The retired school principal also told the minister of a number of former pupils in their 30s who have discovered pyrite in their homes. Mrs Hanley was also among three members of the Clare Pyrite Action Group to have a meeting with the minister in relation to an application by the local authority to extend access of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. The Hanley’s home was …

THE Housing Minister has assured Clare homeowners affected by pyrite that his department make a decision on giving them access to a redress scheme “within a matter of weeks”. Speaking on an official visit to the county today (Friday, August 27), Minister Darragh O’Brien said he wanted an application by the local authority for the extension of the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme to Clare to be decided on without delay. Following a meeting in Ennis with Dr Martina Cleary and two other members of The Clare Pyrite Action Group, Minister O’Brien said: “I want to bring the submission part and the review of the submission part to a conclusion in a matter of weeks… Subject to the submission meeting the criteria that is set there, then we can move along quite quickly. It’s a serious issue for homeowners My priority is for homes, principal private residences that we can start to look at getting them remediated soon.” The minister also …

STRICKEN homeowners affected by pyrite will have the opportunity on Friday (August 27) to ask the Housing Minister directly for support. Minister Darragh O’Brien is to meet members of the Clare Pyrite Action Group in Ennis before travelling to one of their homes to see first-hand the devastating impact of defective blocks. The Department of Housing is in receipt, since the end of July, of a detailed report compiled by the local authority to prove the presence of pyrite. The detailed technical document asks that the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme be extended to Clare. Dr Martina Cleary, founder of the action group, will be among those to meet the minister. “I hope he’s listening and will take the situation seriously,” she said. “There is no excuse now to delay redress for homeowners here. The evidence is there. He had already visited and provided independent support for his own constituents and that’s more than he has done for us to-date. We’ve …

Anger over O’Brien’s response to problem in own constituency compared to Clare THE founder of the Clare Pyrite Action Group has expressed outrage at the fact the Housing Minister highlighted the presence of defective concrete blocks in homes here as far back as 2012, but has still not extended redress to this county. Darragh O’Brien was a senator at the time. The Fianna Fáil member raised the presence of pyrite in homes in Clare during a Seanad debate on a failed Bill aimed at extending the time-frame for homeowners to take legal actions. There is also anger at how the minister has promptly responded to reports of pyrite issues in his own constituency, without visiting affected homes in Clare. Dr Martina Cleary said that in light of his official knowledge, the fact that the minister has still not extended the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme to Clare is deeply shocking. “Minister O’Brien is on record, nine years ago, talking about pyrite …

THE founder of the Clare Pyrite Action Group has described as “farcical” a response from the Department of Housing on the timeframe for a decision on the possible extension of the existing redress scheme to this county. Dr Martin Cleary questioned why there has been no indication to-date of when Minister Darragh O’Brien will issue a response to a report, submitted by the local authority on July 27, containing detailed evidence of the presence of pyrite here and making the case for extension of the Defective Concrete Blocks scheme to Clare. Dr Cleary’s comments follow a statement to The Champion which outlines that the report, commissioned by the Department, “will be examined thoroughly by the Department and a submission will be made to the Minister as soon as possible thereafter”. “It’s quite amazing that back in 2012 Darragh O’Brien was in the Dáil calling for urgent support for his own constituents who were affected by pyrite,” she said. “Now, here …

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 …

MORE clarity on the future of over 100 council staff, earmarked for transfer to Irish Water is expected in the coming months, according to Chief Executive, Pat Dowling. Nationally, services are currently delivered for Irish Water by local authority water services staff operating under 31 Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which are due to continue until 2025. Doubt was cast on the duration of these agreements however, when the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage published a policy paper in February, aiming to streamline services by transferring the local authority workers to the single water utility before the end of this year. The move has been vigorously resisted by unions and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is currently involved in talks on the matter. The government has set the end of July as a deadline for securing a deal on the proposed transfers. The issue, which would affect around 3,000 Council employees around the country and 130 in Clare, was …

Kerry and Limerick families can earn €5k more and access housing assistance THE plight of working families who are unable to access housing support because of “bizarre geographical discrimination” was highlighted in a joint motion from seven councillors at the May local authority meeting. The matter was raised by Councillors Cillian Murphy, Gerry Flynn, Tony O’Brien, Johnny Flynn, Shane Talty, Pat O’Gorman and Pat Hayes who called on the housing minister to review the maximum household income thresholds as a matter of urgency. Councillor Murphy outlined his concerns by describing a hypothetical case of a young woman, with three small children. “She works part time in a local business and earns €180 per week,” he said. “She gets income support of €152 and one parent allowance of €226 per week. “She is separated and doesn’t receive any maintenance, so her grand total income is €558 per week. Her rent is €165 per week and she pays out €240 every week …