LIMERICK households hit by crumbling pyrite have reiterated their call for immediate funding from Limerick City and County Council via the government, to allow them demolish or repair their homes.
More and more houses across Limerick and Clare have been found to have been constructed with pyrite, according to Ann Ryan, chair of the newly formed Limerick Pyrite Action Group.
Ms Ryan’s home in Askeaton, along with her brother Kieran’s house, also in Askeaton, are cracking under the strain of “weetabix-like” blocks, they told the Limerick Post.
Limerick Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell who raised the matter with the Minister in charge, said he has also written to the chief executive of Limerick City and County Council, Pat Daly, to take “urgent” action on behalf of Limerick residents.
As revealed by this newspaper two weeks ago, a growing number of Limerick families are worried their homes will literally collapse around them due to the defective block work which has in some cases has degraded forming mud or sand-like particles.
Deputy O’Donnell said the Defective Blocks Scheme, a remediation fund set up by the government to help homeowners in Donegal and Mayo, must be extended to Limerick.
However, Kieran Ryan said it is too late to save his home which he said has to be demolished due to extensive cracking in the inner and outer blockwork of his Askeaton home.
Rhebogue pensioner, Kevin Hayes, (73), who dedicated 30 years to helping others in the Limerick City Fire & Rescue Service, said he asked the Council to test his home for pyrite but is still awaiting a response.
Another Limerick man, aged in his late 60s, who wished not to be identified, told the Limerick Post he is paying €2,000 monthly mortgage on a large home, which he and his wife would like to sell to downsize, but that they are now “trapped” in the property, due to pyrite in the blockwork.
“I received an engineer’s report about two years ago that my house has pyrite/mica, and I understand that my house is not covered in the current (government remediation) scheme,” he explained.
“My family are too upset and I suspect that that maybe some of my neighbours may also be effected. Our house is way too big for my wife and me, we would love to sell it, cover over the cracks, but we could not do that to someone else.”
“We are in our late 60s and want to move to a smaller manageable house and gardens but are trapped. My mortgage is nearly €2,000 per month which means that I must earn more than €30,000 per year to pay that.”
Deputy O’Donnell said he has raised matters with Minister Peter Burke, who has responsibility for Planning and Local Government.
Minister Burke informed Deputy O’Donnell by letter on May 18th that “while there has been an increase in enquiries received on the issue, my department has not received any submissions detailing the extent of defects identified on dwellings in Co Limerick.”
Minister Burke said this presented Limerick City & County Council with “an opportunity to take the lead and first of all demonstrate that the purported issues in Limerick are in fact due to the presence of excessive amounts of deleterious materials (mic or pyrite) in the aggregate used to manufacture the concrete blocks, and secondly quantify the extent of the problem in the area, which would be very helpful to the department in its deliberations”.
An extinction of the scheme to Limerick will require “the same rigorous analysis as that put in place prior to the rollout of the scheme in donegal and mayo” and will be “subject to budgetary discussions”, Minister Burke went on.
Deputy O’Donnell told the Limerick Post: “I’ve written to the Council’s CEO, Pat Daly, because of the significance of the issue in Limerick, and obviously the issue it has had on these people’s homes, and I have asked that the council as a matter of urgency conduct the necessary analysis on the blockwork of people’s homes, in order to make a submission to the Department of Housing for Limerick to be included along with Donegal and Mayo as part of the defective blocks scheme.”
A Council spokesman said the local authority was looking into the matter.
Ann Ryan, Limerick Pyrite Action Group, can be contacted on 086-3369420 on on the group’s Facebook page.
