Over 1,000 pyrite homes repaired under State scheme

The cost to the State of repairing 1,000 private homes damaged by the presence of pyrite in their foundations has risen to just under €70 million, with at least 600 more homes scheduled for work. The pyrite remediation scheme was set up in 2013 to address structural damage arising from “pyritic heave”, where the presence of the mineral in the foundations has caused subsidence and cracks in homes. More than 10,000 homes completed between January 1997 and December 2013 in Dublin, as well as in Meath, Kildare and Offaly have been affected by pyrite. New figures from the Pyrite Resolution Board show that at the end of March more than 2,000 applications had been received under the scheme and 1,600 dwellings have so far been approved for repairs. To date 1,003 homeowners have had the work completed and have moved back into their homes.

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€10.5m required to remove pyrite from Ballymun homes, report shows

UPWARDS OF €10.5 million will have to be spent to remove the defective building material pyrite from newly built Ballymun regeneration homes, a Dublin City Council report has revealed.

Three developments of a total of 274 houses and apartments built to rehouse the tenants of the Ballymun flats have been found to have “pyrite problems”, the council said in a report submitted to the Oireachtas last week.

Remedial work to fix the problem in the largest of these developments, an estate of 124 housing units known as Sillogue 4, will cost approximately €10.5 million. Further tests are needed on the other two developments, Carton Terrace, which has 94 units, and Owensilla, which has 58 units, to determine the extent of the work needed and the costs involved, the council said.

The final costs of fixing the Ballymun pyrite problems are likely to be several multiples of what the council is facing to remove pyrite from its other social housing developments.

Pyrite, sometimes known as fool’s gold, is a mineral which naturally occurs in stone, but when exposed to air or water becomes unstable and can cause structural damage, including cracking and buckling of walls and floors, when used as a building material.

The presence of pyrite in the council’s housing stock was first confirmed in 2008 in the Avila Park Traveller housing scheme in Finglas. Six houses built in 2005 had shown “unusual defects” within a year of completion the council said, which were ultimately attributed to pyrite.

A subsequent review of the council’s recently built housing stock revealed excessive levels of pyrite in Clancarthy Court, a development of 20 senior citizens’ flats in Donnycarney; a complex of 69 units in Ballybough; a community and childcare facility in Ballymun and the three Ballymun housing developments.

Work to remove pyrite and repair the six Avila houses will cost about €663,000 and is due to begin this month. Work to repair the Clancarthy Court flats has already started and is expected to cost €700,000, the report said.

The developers of the Ballymun community facility, James Elliott Construction Ltd (JEC), won a High Court case against Irish Asphalt, which owned the Bay Lane quarry near Blanchardstown which supplied the pyrite-contaminated material. Irish Asphalt has sought permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Since the court action was initiated pyrite was discovered in the Ballymun housing estates, the council said. While the pyrite was discovered in Sillogue before the houses were brought into use, Carton Terrace and Owensilla are fully occupied.

Ballymun Regeneration Ltd is considering legal action against Irish Asphalt and “a decision is imminent”, the council said. The costs of the work will be funded by the council and the developers of the housing, the council said.

Irish Times

www.bpsplanningconsultants.ie

Location of 25 estates in pyrite probes to stay secret

A JUDGE has ordered a ban on naming more than 25 new housing estates where residents have complained that their homes have been damaged due to the use of pyrite.

To prevent panic among homeowners, the Commercial Court has ruled that a list of the estates -- along with several quarries alleged to have supplied the defective material that caused floors and walls to heave and crack -- will be kept secret.

The list, compiled by Homebond, the builder's insurers, comes as politicians have warned of a pyrite "epidemic" in Ireland, with up to 20,000 homeowners complaining about cracked floors and walls and swelling.

It is feared that publication of the list would have a dramatic impact on the valuations of homes and that people living adjacent to the homes in question will assume, incorrectly, that their properties are also affected.

Homebond's Conor Taaffe, who testified before High Court Judge John Gilligan earlier this week, warned that if builders are identified with the pyrite problem they will have difficulties selling houses in other estates.

Evidence

Mr Taaffe was giving evidence in the marathon legal action between developer Seamus Ross's Menolly Homes and several companies within the Lagan Group.

Menolly has sued the Lagan companies alleging cracks and swelling in hundreds of houses on three estates in north Dublin built by Menolly were caused by defective pyrite infill supplied by Lagan.

Lagan vigorously denies the claim.

Menolly is seeking indemnity against any compensation claims it may have to pay to homeowners complaining of cracked and swollen walls on the estates of Drynam Hall in Kinsealy, and Beaupark and Myrtle in north Dublin.

The High Court has already heard claims from Menolly that it could be facing a bill of €60m in compensation claims from as many as 759 householders on three north Dublin estates over alleged building defects.

Residents have complained that the vast resources being used to prosecute and defend the civil action could be used to fix their homes.

Last night, Fine Gael spokesman on housing, Terence Flanagan TD, called for an audit of all quarries where allegedly defective material was sourced to find out the true extent of the pyrite problem.

"It is a disaster," said Mr Flanagan. "And the longer this litigation goes on, the less funds there will be available to fix people's homes. A taskforce must be set up by the government to address the issue."

All legal parties in the Menolly/Lagan legal action have given undertakings not to disclose the contents of the Homebond list and estates will only be identified by code when references are made to them in the court.

The Menolly/Lagan action, which began a year ago, has incurred costs of several million euro to date and is not expected to conclude until next year.

Final costs for the action, which are likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, could exceed €20m.

Yesterday marked the 126th day of the High Court action, which has already surpassed the epic DCC/Fyffes insider trading action, which lasted 87 days in the High Court.

Earlier this year, Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee told the Oireachtas transport committee that two homes in his Co Meath constituency had "exploded" because of the inappropriate use of pyrite in their construction.

Mr McEntee, who has been involved in a high-profile campaign to have remedial works carried out on behalf of constituents, claimed that there were thousands of homeowners in Dublin, Kildare and Meath who were desperate as their homes had been damaged due to the use of pyrite.

Dearbhail McDonald Legal Editor

Irish Independent

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