Mayo pyrite homeowners still fighting for functioning redress scheme - Conway-Walsh

Mayo Sinn Féin TD, Rose Conway-Walsh has said that the current Defective Concrete Block scheme is another government housing failure and needs to be changed to enable families to rebuild their homes and their lives.

Speaking after a Oireachtas Housing Committee this week that heard from effected homeowners from Mayo, Donegal and Clare, teachta Conway-Walsh said:

“People should be rebuilding their homes and moving on with their lives and not be forced to go to Dublin to push the government to deliver a redress scheme that works at this late stage. There have been so many false dawns for individuals and families effected by Pyrite and Mica. In Mayo we have been fighting for over a decade for a redress scheme that works for everyone.

“This week we heard how many of the so called enhancements are just delaying mechanisms and that many people are still financially excluded, and others are struggling in a dysfunctional scheme.”

Deputy Conway-Walsh added that people on the older scheme are being disadvantaged despite promises from the government.

“We heard how SEAI grants have effectively stalled for people in the defective block scheme. The government still have no system in place with the Banks as they will not lend against houses that are affected by defective blocks and people struggle to get top ups on their mortgages.

“This means many people have no way of accessing the working capital they need to start the rebuild. Effectively locking them out of the scheme.

“There is still no certainty around whether engineers will be able to sign off on the works being undertaken which will have huge knock-on effects for insurance, mortgages, and reselling. Sinn Féin warned the government that their scheme would not deliver the redress needed. Sinn Féin stands ready to work with the government to make the reforms needed to finally end this nightmare that so many people in Mayo are facing,” she concluded.