‘We should get our houses back the way they are’

A woman has described the mental toll of moving out of her pyrite-afflicted home as ‘absolutely horrendous’.

Barbara Clinton, a member of North Mayo Pyrite group, has said all homeowners with pyrite should be able to rebuild their houses ‘the way they were’ through the pyrite redress scheme.

Ms Clinton was speaking to The Mayo News ahead of a public meeting tonight (Tuesday) in Ballina where homeowners affected by pyrite will discuss various issues with the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme.

Under the scheme, successful applicants can access a grant of up to €420,000 to rebuild their house.

The grant is assessed based on a sliding scale according to the square footage of the house.

Commercial buildings, boundary walls, garages, creches, medical health centres, holiday homes, partially built homes and farm buildings are currently not covered under the scheme.

Ms Clinton told The Mayo News that numerous homeowners had been left with significant out-of-pocket expenses despite being accepted onto the pyrite redress scheme.

“There’s no allowances for the kitchen, for flooring, for tiling, for anything you take out. It’s there for the build of the house, that is it. So everything else is onto you for a financial cost,” she said.
Heart-breaking

Ms Clinton described the process of moving out of her house in Killala as ‘absolutely horrendous’ and ‘heart-breaking’.
She has secured accommodation a short distance away from her home but will still incur significant expenses during the rebuild.

“Your whole life is being torn apart. Then knowing that I have beautiful wooden floors, I have beautifully tiled bathrooms, kitchen, tiling, I won’t have any of that back,” she said.

“I am going to save my stair carpet and my hallway carpet because I can’t afford it financially because I’m not getting anything to put my house back the way it is. And that’s the heartbreaking thing, that all I am getting is for the blocks for the building work, that’s what all of us are only getting is for the blocks and the building work.”
North Mayo Pyrite Group have invited the public to attend a meeting on the matter, which takes place in the Merry Monk, Killala Road, Ballina, this evening, Tuesday, March 26 at 7pm.

The group has outlined various concerns regarding the redress scheme, which was revised and enhanced before being launched last year.

These include cash flow caused by the ‘pay first and then get reimbursed’ nature of the scheme and no advanced funding of engineer fees (approximately €15,000).

'No support'
The group said there is ‘no support’ from the banks for upfront demolition or building funding costs, little support from banks to offer top up mortgages, or loans to homeowners as due to the scheme not covering 100 percent of rebuild costs.
A significant lack of accommodation for families and individuals forced to move out of their homes has also been highlighted.
As of yesterday (Monday), there were 34 properties in Mayo listed for rent on Daft.ie.

Other concerns listed by affected homeowners are delays with the progression of new entrants onto the scheme and no confirmation on the mortgageable or insurability of a home once re-mediated.

Ms Clinton said that all affected homeowners should be funded to rebuild their homes to their original specifications.
“Knowing you are going to be moving back and losing all of that through no fault of your own…we should get our houses back the way they are now,” she said.

“We’re not asking for anything other than that, to have it put back the way we have them. We paid for it once already. Why should we have to pay for it again?”

A recent report from the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions recommended that the pyrite redress scheme provide greater flexibility and reduced red tape for applicants.

The report said the scheme should take ‘better account of the financial burden of all the costs’, such as the cost for new foundations, rental costs, and storage costs of furniture and other belongings.
It also recommended ‘significantly enhanced’ market surveillance and a transparent public enquiry and effective and timely legal proceedings into the matter.

Midlands North West MEPs Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Maria Walsh have welcomed the report, with Ms Walsh calling for ‘100 percent’ redress for affected homeowners.

Minister of State, Dara Calleary TD, has said the terms of the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme would be kept under review by the Government.

North Mayo Pyrite Group have criticised the Government for not undertaking a review of the new scheme despite pledging to do so within six months of its launch.