Call on government to pay pyrite testing costs

THE €5,000 upfront cost of testing a home for pyrite should be paid for by the government.

The suggestion was made by Belmullet-based Councillor Sean Carey who told of the plight of a woman who came to him crying on the phone as her family can't afford a test.

His area colleague Councillor Gerry Coyle has also raised the issue of testing costs, saying some people just don't have the money to pay for it.

The government has to come up with this, he said, and also a VAT exemption for work on properties.

Again, issues around the cost of renting while rebuilding affected homes and the need for a planning exemption where a property is knocked and rebuilt were raised at the monthly Westport-Belmullet Municipal District meeting.

Councillor Coyle said six years on since the issue was first raised and the people affected have no more tears to cry.

There was, he said, no word about pyrite when it was just a Belmullet problem and there still wouldn't be if it had remained just a Belmullet problem.