HomeBond decision on committee 'surprising'

A DECISION by structural insurers HomeBond not to appear before the Oireachtas environment committee is “disappointing and surprising”, committee chairman Ciarán Lynch TD has said. It had hoped HomeBond would explain why it had decided it was not liable for damage to homes caused by defective hardcore infill material.

Thousands of homes built during the boom were affected by the infill, which contained pyrite, a material that expands when it comes into contact with water. The homes have been left with damage including raised floors, swollen and cracked walls and warped, jammed doors and windows.

HomeBond was set up by the Construction Industry Federation and the Irish Home Builders Federation in 1978 to provide structural defect cover for new homes in Ireland. When the pyrite problem first began to emerge, the company did offer compensation to some homeowners, but has since declined to compensate them.

Mr Lynch said the committee was deeply disappointed and very surprised HomeBond had declined an invitation to address it on why it had “opted out of legal responsibility to the purchasers of homes damaged by pyrite”.

The committee also urged the company to provide the information, where householders agreed, to the Pyrite Panel – a group established by the Minister for the Environment to investigate the issue.

In a letter to the committee, HomeBond said it had declined in light of its decision to take part in the Pyrite Panel at the invitation of Phil Hogan. It also said that because “the quarry supplier of the hardcore infill acted negligently” and supplied a defective product “in circumstances where legislation provides for compensation”, it believed its liability for major defects was “specifically excluded”.