Homeowners have expressed anger after Mayo County Council issued letters of refusal to 20 applicants to the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme.
Applicants who were refused claim the council made the decision “from a desk” rather than visiting their homes to inspect them, according to the Western People.
The local authority has said that pattern cracking is not present in their properties and their applications did not meet the eligibility of the redress scheme.
Jamie Lee Donnelly, one of the homeowners whose application was refused, said she had paid a designated engineer to inspect and report on the cracks in her home.
She told Newstalk radio that she also had it tested for pyrite and submitted all of the findings to Mayo County Council as part of her application.
Ms Donnelly said laboratory analysis of the pyrite testing confirmed what the engineer had concluded in his report - that the network of horizontal and vertical cracks running across the exterior and interior of her home was due to defective concrete blocks.
‘They formed that opinion from a desk’
“It is the opinion of Mayo Co Council that pattern cracking is not present (in my home) without coming to look at it. They formed that opinion from a desk,” she said.
The refusal of their applications leaves homeowners liable for the €5,000 cost of the pyrite test that was carried out on their homes and no opportunity for redress for any remediation works that may have be to carried out.
“This is leaving the homeowners not very trusting of Mayo Co Council considering that they could not have made this decision without calling to anyone’s homes,” Ms Donnelly said.
While the applicants can appeal this decision, they have been provided with no detail as to what that process entails and who adjudicates the appeal, Ms Donnelly said.
Mayo County Council has received 99 applications under this scheme of which 74 approvals have been granted
Responding to the applicants, Mayo County Council said it administers the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and in compliance with the associated regulations and guidelines.
It said it understand the stress and trauma that the householders experience in relation to their homes being affected, however, in a number of cases the applications did not meet the eligibility of the scheme.
There is an appeals process available to applicants who were deemed ineligible for the scheme, the council stated.
“To date Mayo County Council has received 99 applications under this scheme of which 74 approvals have been granted. Five applications require further detail and in the case of 20 applicants we are unable to confirm eligibility under the scheme.”
