Minister Hogan has proposed that a levy should be introduced on quarrying and some insurance products to fund a pyrite remediation scheme.

Irish Insurance Federation’s response is as follows:

• First and foremost, IIF have every sympathy for those affected by pyrite;
• Those responsible for the pyrite problem should pay for the cost of resolving it, i.e. the construction/quarrying industry and the State.  The State cannot escape responsibility – there was an over-reliance on self-certification, nothing was done re illegal quarries and there was no quality control testing of materials.;
• Any levy on non-life insurance policies to fund the cost of a pyrite remediation scheme would be unacceptable and unjust.  Non-life policyholders are already paying levies of 5% on their policies as it is;
• Insurers have honoured their commitments in full and are contributing to the cost of resolving the pyrite problem where there is legal liability under policies covering structural defects and products liability.  We estimate that insurers have already paid out tens of millions of euro in claims and that the total claims cost is likely to be in excess €100 million. Homebond, by contrast, withdrew warranty cover for pyrite damage.
• Where policyholders have a legal liability in respect of defective work or materials insurers will continue to meet claims in accordance with their policy conditions;
• There is no legal or moral basis for expecting non-life insurance policyholders to pay a pyrite levy when the insurance industry did not create the pyrite problem and are already honouring their commitments;
• The cost of funding the remediation scheme should be borne exclusively by the parties involved in creating the problem i.e. the construction/quarrying industry and the State.

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