Tag Archives: redress

DELIGHT at Clare’s inclusion in a grant for homes with defective blocks has been overshadowed by concerns over the terms of the scheme. Following a campaign of almost two years, Clare gained access to the new grant which due to come into effect in the coming months. While the move has been widely welcomed, concerns remain about the eligibility criteria for the updated grant, as well as the amount of financial cover it will provide, in real terms, for homeowners. A day after the long-awaited announcement from the Housing Minister, Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) were outside Dáil Éireann to voice their fears and repeat their call for pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill that will underpin the updated grant. The woman who initiated the campaign for redress for Clare repeated her call for consultation with homeowners here. “We are making our presence known in the capital,” Dr Martina Cleary said. “The CPAG are outside the Dáil to make the clear …

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 …

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 …