HUNDREDS OF north Dublin homeowners whose properties have suffered major defects are set to agree to the establishment of a €7 million trust fund to carry out major repairs to their houses.
The overwhelming majority of householders who have voted so far have agreed to the deal offered by two building firms to settle a long-running court case over responsibility for the defects, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.
More than 400 of the 550 affected homeowners have yet to vote on the proposals from Menolly Homes, which built the houses, lawyers for the company told the court. The plan has the support of Irish Asphalt, which has been involved with Menolly in one of the most expensive cases in Irish legal history.
The Irish Timesunderstands that the two legal firms representing the largest number of householders are likely to recommend acceptance, making it highly likely that the deal will go through.
Under the terms of the settlement, householders on four estates will have their ground floors rebuilt and get up to €10,000 in compensation each.
In return, Menolly wants the owners to drop their legal action against the company over defects such as the swelling and cracking of walls and ceilings. These problems have been blamed on the presence of the mineral pyrite, which swells when it comes into contact with water.
Menolly, which says at least 85 per cent of the residents must agree to the deal for it to take effect, originally required agreement from householders by last month. However, lawyers for the residents, whose agreement is needed for a final settlement, sought clarification, and this deadline was not met.
Denis McDonald SC, for Menolly, told the court yesterday that the process of consulting homeowners had proved lengthier than expected. Some 60 different legal firms were representing the residents and each had to be contacted separately.
He asked Mr Justice Paul Gilligan to adjourn the matter until January. If the required majority of homeowners had agreed to the settlement by then, the settlement could be reached once other matters were dealt with.
If a majority of residents did not agree, the case would have to resume, he said.
Mr Justice Gilligan agreed to the application, and adjourned the matter until January.
Menolly says repair work on each house would take four to six weeks over 2½ years.
The settlement covers the houses it built in Drynam, Beaupark and Myrtle estates in Dublin, as well as houses on Beaupark estate built by Killoe Developments. Both companies are owned by builder Séamus Ross. Menolly has blamed the problems in the houses on the presence of pyrite in infill material used in their construction.
Irish Asphalt, part of the Lagan group of companies, which supplied the infill, blames faulty construction for the defects. The dispute between the two firms has been before the Commercial Court for 150 days. If litigation starts again, it is unlikely to finish until mid-2012, Menolly lawyers had warned.
