Pyrite families’ pleas for accommodation ‘heart-breaking’

HOUSEHOLDS who have to be rehoused due to pyrite in their homes should be provided with planning-exempt modular homes, according to a Foxford councillor.

The plea was made at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council by Cllr Neil Cruise, who said affected households are under severe pressure to find alternative housing.

“Is there any chance we could petition the department in some manner to put in some of the modular housing for use by the people rebuilding their homes?” he asked.

“I am involved with [affected] groups, and the pleas for accommodation are heartbreaking because there is no accommodation for those people. They are on their knees and under severe pressure since they found this problem with their home,” he said, adding that it would be good to find out ‘if we could look into some scheme like that [modular homes] and not have to go through years of planning’.

The Fine Gael councillor cited the example of modular housing provided for Ukrainian refugees, which did not require planning permission and was constructed quickly.

“It could be put up in a number of months, like what happened in Claremorris,” he said. “We would be doing our own citizens a great service by providing it.”

Exemption needed

CLLR Cruise was supported by his Fine Gael colleague Peter Flynn who said that land in Westport which has planning permission for housing had been offered for modular homes for people affected by pyrite in Westport. However, he complained, this offer received no traction from the Council and he was not optimistic of it going ahead.

In response, Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said that despite the site already having planning permission for housing, it would still have to go through the planning process, as it would be a new development.

Mr Kelly explained that the council can submit a request to the department but stressed it will still require planning unless the Government passes some sort of exemption.

“The only exception in planning is under European law for the Ukrainian refugees. Unless there is a change in the law it will require planning.

“The second question is funding for it, and I suspect the answer will be that the [Defective Concrete Block] scheme currently in place is the scheme approved by the Government and anything else will be an addition to the scheme. It will be hard to get over the line, but by all means, it can be put forward as a proposal,” he said.

Cllr Cruise added that a delegation from the European Commission had recently travelled to Donegal to view the mica problem there, saying he believes that lobbying European representatives may be the way to proceed.

Mr Kelly suggested that they start at a national level, and if the proposal is rejected by the department they could then take the matter to Europe.