*The home of Michelle and Steve Mansfield is among the worst affected in Clare. Photograph: Joe Buckley
FRESH HURLDES have been thrown in the way of homeowners impacted by the presence of mica and pyrite.
Criteria set to be added to the new defective concrete blocks scheme is to make the process of securing redress all the more difficult for affected homeowners in Clare, Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Limerick, Tipperary and Wexford.
Houses that were tested by IS465 qualified engineers and were deemed to show the presence of defective blocks now face the possibility of not fitting the bill under the new scheme which is being prepared by the Department of Housing. The Clare Echo understands that so far 45 homes across the country that qualified for redress under the IS465 standard will now be rejected under the revised scheme.
A link between pyrite and oxidation must be proven, the new scheme is set to propose. This means that the Department’s interpretation will ultimately decide which properties will be entitled to redress rather than a standard test.
Under the IS465 testing, a positive link between pyrite and damage to property is required whereas the new scheme will look for a chemical reaction across two millimetres in houses whereby the amount of blocks can vary from 5,000 to 6,000.
“It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack, they will be core testing houses until they are like swiss cheese to try to prove this reaction,” Dr Martina Cleary founder of the Clare Pyrite Action Group told The Clare Echo of the fresh proposal. “They are completely ignoring that the blocks are full of pyrite. They are searching for something that is so difficult to find,” she stated. Crusheen-based Martina warned, “The ordinary man and woman won’t know what’s coming”.
Fears have been expressed by impacted homeowners in Clare that the move represents a tactic by the Department to exclude as many people as possible from the grant.
