Housing Minister Damien English gave assurances that he is committed to a lasting solution for the families in Mayo that have been affected by Pyrite defective concrete blocks in their homes.
Speaking after participating in a Sinn Féin delegation led by the party’s Housing Spokesperson, Eoin O’ Broin TD, meeting with Minister English in Leinster House, to push for a Pyrite Redress Scheme for the affected home owners in Mayo and Donegal:
At the meeting, I conveyed the serious frustration in Mayo with the slow progress in implementing the first two key recommendations from the Expert Panel Report (the establishment of a simple standardised protocol for assessing the damage to homes and recommending remedial actions and need for this to be carried out by a competent registered professional).
The Minister outlined that he expects to have the draft protocol from the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) on his desk soon and that he would then seek to fast track the next public consultation process to a period of weeks rather than months to reflect the delays in the process this year.
Engineers Ireland will then train up a panel of qualified professionals so that they can apply the agreed protocol when assessing the damage to the affected family’s homes and recommending remedial measures.
In tandem, the Minister advised us that he is ensuring the progression of legal measures and advice required to move to the stage where family homes in Mayo and Donegal can be made safe.
I, with my Sinn Féin colleagues, made it clear to Minister English that further delays were not acceptable and that a redress was urgent and imperative.
