Pyrite damage forces Erris family out of their home

Anton McNulty

THE plight of an Erris family who were forced to move out of their home due to pyrite damage was raised in the Seanad to highlight the need for a redress scheme to be put in place.
Michael Healy and his wife were forced to abandon their home when Storm Doris caused part of the gable to come away and resulted in some of the interior walls to fall away.
The house located in Corclough West on the Mullet Peninsula was only built in 2000 but has been plagued with problems with pyrite in the concrete and cracks have been appearing in the home for a number of years.
However, the Healys were forced to leave their family home when cracks on the gable wall became larger and the house was no longer safe to live in.
Mr Healy who runs a shop in Binghamstown has been forced to move into a one-bedroom flat and his plight was raised in the Seanad by Erris-based Senator Rose Conway-Walsh.
Last February former Minister of State, Paudie Coffey announced that Dennis McCarthy, a former Director of Services with Waterford County Council had been appointed to chair an expert panel to investigate the problems with concrete blockwork caused by pyrite and mica in Mayo and Donegal.
 
Terms of reference
The terms of reference of the report included the commitment to submit a report by May 31, 2016 but the report has yet to be submitted. Mr Healy claimed that he house will have collapsed by the time the the expert group submit their report.
Senator Conway-Walsh showed pictures of Mr Healy’s collapsed house at a sitting of the Seanad last week to highlight the need for the expert committee to finalise their report and for the Government to put a redress scheme in place.
“We just cant wait any longer for the redress scheme to be put in place. The fact is that the standards as laid down by the state were too low and the failure to regulate the standard of materials being supplied to home builders resulted in materials that were clearly not fit for purpose.
“These homeowners, who continue to pay mortgages and property tax in many cases should not have to wait any longer.
The report must be finalised and published to allow for the redress scheme to be immediately put in place,” she said.