‘Undeniable discrimination’ over Clare grant access condemned

THE Housing Minister has been told that ongoing delays in supporting Clare homeowners affected by pyrite represents “an undeniable form of discrimination”.

In an open letter to Minister Darragh O’Brien, the founder of Clare Pyrite Action Group (CPAG) said the group is “at a loss” to understand why technical evidence provided on the impact of defective materials is not being accepted by his department.

The letter also refers to Minister O’Brien’s visit to Clare last August, during which he pledged that a decision would be made in a matter of weeks on the Council’s request for access to the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. 

The letter states that homeowner in this county are being subjected to “a prolonged and even calculated form of exclusion, compromising both our human and constitutional rights as Irish and European citizens”. 

Concerns are also raised over the revised grant scheme, as outlined last November. The letter calls for the abolition of the proposed sliding scale of State contributions.

On the threshold for access to the scheme, the letter states that: “It is not acceptable to leave people trapped indefinitely in properties that are damaged, but not damaged enough to access help, while also facing a non-transparent assessment procedure.

“A comparative equivalent would be, to tell citizens of this country to continue driving faulty cars, allowed into the market due to lack of regulation, up to and until the point at which they fail to function as they should.” 

The Department’s proposals on remedial actions short of full demolition are questioned as a potential “dangerous dereliction of duty… [and] in the long-term, a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money”.

The document also lists the unaccounted costs the scheme does not make provision for. 

“This revised scheme is therefore not the 100% Redress voted for by the Dáil on June 16,” the letter adds. A lack of consultation with Clare homeowners and representatives is also cited.

“In this respect, although we are suffering the same devastating consequences of having defective blocks in our houses, we are blocked from any formal input into a consultative process on the largest remediation grant in the history of the State, to address this very problem. This is despite the fact that the evidence to warrant our inclusion, has been available to your Department since July 23rd.

“The regulations within this new grant scheme, will impact the lives and livelihoods of hundreds (if not thousands) of people in County Clare for decades to come. The non-representative, non-accessible, non-transparent and non-consultative process, which has undoubtedly influenced the content and detail of what this new grant scheme will contain, has been deeply unjust.”

Dr Cleary said it is now vital that homeowners speak up. A protest march will take place from Áras an Chontae in Ennis at 2pm on Saturday, January 29.

“People must not believe the political spin that suggests that we are about to get entry to the scheme,” she said.

“If they do not stand up and have their voices heard, there will be no grant for Clare. If people believe that by being quiet they’ll get anywhere, they are sadly mistaken.”

The revised grant is not any better, it’s worse. There are so many loopholes About 90% of people will not be able to access this. They’ll be waiting for five to ten or more years, if they ever access it, in houses that are deteriorating around them.

“The political narrative is not going to serve. People have to stand up and be counted. The only people doing anything for them are the homeowners themselves.”