Extent of pyrite issue appears to be growing in Mayo

THE issue of pyrite appears to be growing in Co. Mayo.

To date, the areas impacted have primarily been in north Mayo, in Erris, Belmullet, Ballina, Crossmolina and Foxford.

A special meeting of Mayo County Council on Monday to discuss the matter heard that reports are coming in that pyrite is in other towns too, including Castlebar and possibly Westport.

And it's not just homes that are affected, director of services Tom Gilligan warned, with offices and commercial buildings possibly affected too.

To date, the council has received 110 applications under the Defective Blocks Grant Scheme for residential properties.

At the meeting it was agreed that five matters that need to be addressed for pyrite-affected homeowners will be referred back for ministerial and department attention.

Councillor Neil Cruise received support for the five points he set out:

1. VAT for pyrite works should be reclaimable - a suggestion made previously by his colleague Councillor Gerry Coyle.

2. Planning - if rebuilding on the footprint of your existing home, this should be dealt with via the council's part 8 planning route.

3. Tackle unused properties and get them back into circulation as homes by way of a €50,000 grant.

4. SEAI grants for older homes should be extended to pyrite homes.

5. The redress scheme should be 100%.

The headache facing people looking for alternative accommodation while carrying out repairs or rebuilds was made clear by Councillor Cruise. There are just 35 properties available to rent on Daft.

They needed to incentivise people to bring vacant properties back into use.

Mr. Gilligan agreed that vacant homes are a 'blight' on the county. The last census indicated there are 10,000 such units in Mayo.

The director again acknowledged the stress and trauma suffered by people whose homes are affected by pyrite