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Tag Archives: pyrite

Pyrite affected homeowners struggle with grant application

NO CLARE home owner affected by the scourge of pyrite has received any Government funds under the Enhanced Defective Block Grant Scheme up until January 23 last, new figures have revealed. Sinn Féin Deputy Eoin O’Broin asked Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien for a breakdown of the number of new applications to the Enhanced Defective Block Redress Scheme; the number who have drawn down funds to date; and the number who have drawn down their full grant. The official figures show there were 49 Clare applicants to the scheme compared to 1,456 in Donegal, 357 in Mayo and 18 in Limerick. According to these statistics, no Clare homeowner affected by pyrite has submitted remedial plans, which is in sharp contrast to 127 in Donegal and 140 in Mayo. No Clare resident has commenced remedial works unlike 96 in Donegal and 132 in Mayo. Zero is also the figure for the number of Clare homeowners who have completed works or drawn down …

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Council seek go-ahead for pyrite grant facilitator 

A FACILITATOR to help Clare homeowners applying for grant support to treat the damage caused by pyrite, is being sought.  Councillor Ian Lynch confirmed that Clare County Council has written to the Department of Housing in relation to the recruitment of a local facilitator. Two staff were hired in Donegal – one of the four counties covered by the new grant – in March. Their role is to support those applying for the new scheme, which is expected to open imminently, though one-to-one clinics and public information sessions. “The Council has officially applied to the Department to appoint a facilitator,” the Independent councillor said. “The ball has started to roll on that matter. Any time there is a resource being provided and paid for by the Department, we need to grab it with both hands. It’s good to be able to reassure homeowners and CPAG after the questions that were raised at the meeting in Ennis. Homeowners will need someone …

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Crowe quizzes Finance Minister over pyrite home remortgaging plight

RULES for the operation of the new defective concrete blocks grant could be signed on Friday, according to Clare’s Fianna Fáil TD. Despite that, uncertainty remains over exactly when the scheme will open to applications.  Deputy Cathal Crowe contacted members of the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) to address that and other questions that arose at their meeting in Ennis a fortnight ago. Deputy Crowe tabled a number of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) on foot of homeowners concerns. One of these was to Minister for Finance Michael McGrath. Deputy Crowe asked if he was aware that owners of homes with defective concrete blocks are, in the main, unable to have their homes remortgaged. He also asked how he proposes to address this with pillar banks in this regard. Minister McGrath said that while the Government response on the defective concrete block issue is primarily led by the Minister for Housing, he recently met with the banking and insurance defective block redress …

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Crowe insists pyrite quarries will be pursued

QUARRIES who supplied the defective concrete products that have devastated homes across the county came in for severe criticism, when members of the Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) met on a thundery Friday night last (June 16).  After outlining that it would be another five weeks before homeowners here could apply for the new grant scheme, Deputy Cathal Crowe gave an assurance over the government’s commitment. He accepted people’s reservations about the terms of the grant, but said that further amendments to the underpinning legislation, which was debated last summer, could have jeopardised the funding. “There was a state of economic flux and I think it was right to ring fence the money, and drive on to some degree for better or worse,” he said. “I accept you’re not all happy.”  Responding, Séamus Hanley of Drumline, whose home was visited by Minister Darragh O’Brien in 2021, said the solution to funding concerns was to pursue those responsible for the defective …

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Shannon Garda Station confirmed to have pyrite

PYRITE has been confirmed in Shannon Garda Station, prompting a call for the government to mount a legal challenge against those who produced the defective material. The presence of pyrite, which can cause severe cracking and other structural defects, was confirmed to Deputy Cathal Crowe, who said he will now seek answers from government on where that material came from.  The discovery was made after the Fianna Fáil TD queried that status of a request to have the building painted. In response to his question, the Office of Public Works (OPW), who manage thousands of public buildings, said pyrite had been detected. “A routine inspection early last year at Shannon Garda Station raised concerns in respect to cracking observed in the external façade of the building,” a reply outlined. “The OPW appointed external consultants to investigate the cause of this cracking and the consultant’s report confirmed the presence of pyrite in the external leaf of the building.” Deputy Crowe described the …

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Pyrite grant for Clare ‘in five weeks’

PYRITE homeowners in Clare will have to wait another five weeks before they can apply for grant support, according to the county’s Fianna Fáil TD.  Tempers flared at meeting in Ennis on Friday evening (June 16) and that update met with both scepticism and anger. Several homeowners challenged Deputy Cathal Crowe over what they see as previous broken promises and missed deadlines in their three-year campaign. While deadlines for ministerial sign-off  on the new grant, slipped on June 1 and 14, several homeowners angrily recalled Minister Darragh O’Brien’s visit to Clare in August 2021, and the promise of support “within a matter of weeks”.  Deputy Crowe assured homeowners that despite a last-minute delay, over concerns in Donegal – one of the three other counties covered by the grant – they would be able to make applications “five weeks from now”.  Deputy Violet Anne Wynne, who was the only other Oireachtas member present, was sharply critical of the delay saying that …

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Call for grant support to tackle pyrite in home foundations

A CALL has been made for measures to support homeowners who have pyrite in their foundations, as well as in their blocks.  While Clare is to be included, in the coming months, in a grant scheme to remediate block work, this does not cover foundations. At the January meeting of the local authority, Councillor Ian Lynch called for the inclusion of Clare in the Pyrite Remediation Scheme, set up ten years ago to address pyrite in under-floors and foundations. The West Clare member also called for the removal of the controversial ‘damage threshold’ that homes will be required to meet before being able to access grant funding.  “I think that any house that has been identified as having pyrite and defective concrete blocks shouldn’t be subject to a damage threshold,” Councillor Lynch told the meeting. “What’s the point trying to fix the concrete blocks and the outside, and then waiting three or four years and finding that the household has …

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Minister condemned for lack of clarity on Clare pyrite grant

THE housing minister has been accused of being “obsessed” with curbing funding for homeowners affected by pyrite, while failing to properly pursue those responsible for the crisis. Deputy Michael McNamara said that Minister Darragh O’Brien seemed excessively concerned that homeowners would not profit from the scheme, in cases where they chose to downsize, but was less bothered when it came to properly pursuing the quarries that supplied the defective material.  He added that while the minister had rushed new legislation through the Oireachtas to extend the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, there was now no sense of urgency in terms of giving access to homeowners in Clare. The Scariff TD spoke to The Champion on foot of a response to a Parliamentary Question (PQ) he tabled to Minister O’Brien. While Deputy McNamara sought “clarification and transparency” in relation to the timeline for access for Clare homeowners, no precise date was provided. The minister’s response stated that work on regulations to …

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