Dublin's largest house builder, Menolly Homes, has begun legal action against the quarry company that it claims supplied defective materials used to build homes in north Dublin.
The infill stone material was used in the construction of several estates in the Kinsealy, Baldoyle and Portmarnock areas. Tests on a number of houses show that the material has expanded, causing ground floors to rise and causing floors and walls to crack.
Large cracks have appeared in the walls and floors of at least 40 of the 300 houses in the Drynam Hall estate in Kinsealy, built by Menolly Homes just three years ago. Test are being carried out on 60 houses in the estate that may be affected. It is understood the damage to the houses will take more than three months to fix.
The material, which carries excessive levels of the mineral pyrite, was also used in the construction of Menolly developments at Beaupark near Portmarnock and the Myrtle development in Baldoyle.
It emerged yesterday that preliminary tests on a small number of homes at the Myrtle development have indicated excessive levels of pyrite in the infill.
Further test are being carried out.
It is understood the developer is anxious to start remedial work on affected homes as soon as possible. Sources have indicated that replacing the infill will take over 12 weeks to complete. Homeowners will be required to move out while this work is being done. Menolly has offered to assist homeowners with alternative accommodation.
Pyrite is a mineral used to make infill stone that is used beneath ground floors. It expands if it comes into contact with air or water, causing cracks.
Menolly Homes has issued a plenary summons in the High Court against the quarry owners it says supplied the defective material.
It is understood developers in other parts of the State are having preliminary tests done to assess if their buildings have been affected.
The quarry owners were contacted by The Irish Times yesterday but nobody was made available to comment.
Menolly Homes said it had no comment to make.
Tommy Broughan, the Labour TD for Dublin North East, yesterday called on Minister for the Environment John Gormley, Dublin city manager John Tierney and Fingal county manager David O'Connor to take urgent action to ensure that all homes that might have been built using the material are identified.
"A comprehensive testing and assurance programme needs to be rolled out wherever this infill has been used," Mr Broughan said.
Mr Broughan said Mr Gormley and the two managers must explain what testing procedures were used to certify the infill material, when the tests were carried out and what is the status of the planning permission and operations permit for the quarry.