@Mickety Dee: ah now if ur house was falling apart tell me a better way to get attention as they are getting no where fast. I know its sh**e stuck in traffic but their homes are crumbling. It’s terrible.

@Deirdre: this issue has been in the media non stop for weeks and months. There’s no one in the country not aware of it. All they have done here is piss off the general public at a time when they are trying to convince them to pay to rebuild thier houses. Good job Paddy Diver.

@Adam: they are being messed around by the government so they are upping the anti by pissing off the politicians constituents. The most effective protest is the one that causes the most disruption without breaking the law.

It shouldn’t have come to this, there is a chain of responsibility including quarries, block suppliers, builders, certifying engineers, insurance companies, homebond… all of the above have some level of liability and most have insurance to cover situations such as these. Why those liable are not being pursued is unusual. The state should have a very small if any financial burden here.

@john doe: Totally agree

@Aurelio Na Fodhla: it’s to make people mad enough to complain about it, with the knock on affect of the government fixing what they are protesting to stop further anger. Its a form of bullying. They chose one of the busiest days in Dublin for traffic for a reason.

@john doe: Im alright Jack, Ivory tower, third world problem, in this together, some of the comments really show where Irish people heads are and their solidarity with fellow Irish residents, not on my doorstep, couldn’t give a fiddlers, vote for the local lad down the road cause he gets “me” my new traffic lights. these people invested alot of money and our government facilitated by letting their developer mates run amock with lack of foresight and regulations. nothing done on the supplier side , they are off to mexico , ye hah

@Aurelio Na Fodhla: but that doesn’t get the publics support, I genuinely feel sorry for them but feck that. Ordinary decent people of Dublin still have to get about, I’m after missing an important x-ray and now have to go back in a waiting list and am just one of a lot of people who they’ve pissed off so how does that help their cause?

@Paul Gillen: We dont count, we are Dubs. We pay for their councils through our the Local Property Tax, the money Dubliners pay is not given to the Dublin Councils. So we pay for the services as well.

@Adam: so they should protest in an empty field miles away from anyway, thats going work!!!!!….squeaky wheel gets the oil.

@Declan Gowran: Unfortunately this government will not give 100% redress simply because the group have the full backing of Sinn Fein. They know SF will receive their votes so no political will is the order of the day. Will be interested to see how Charlie mc Conalogue reacts to the situation

@Adam: only 3.2 billion. Bank bailout was 10 times more

@Adam: Protest outside the houses of those responsible would be a good idea, the entities have shut up shop but the people behind them are still around and entirely unaffected. A few pound to get the CRO records will give the director details.

@Kevin McDonnell: Unfortunately it is also down to us the taxpayer as the relevant authorities did not regulate this quarry properly.

@alphasully: The regulations exist. This quarry didn’t adhere to them which is a different thing. The quarry and their insurers need to be made responsible and if we have to change our laws to do that then we need to get busy changing them. The taxpayer cannot afford this bill.

@Kevin McDonnell: the tax reduction last week for a multinational was €1.3 billion. Roughly , using your figures that’s is about €250 per person.
How com you didn’t use your calculator on those numbers????

@Kevin McDonnell: Bad governance yet again got us here…

@M Bowe: Not exactly correct. There was adjudication by tax appeals court (not sure of exact name) of a tax demand made by Revenue.

@alphasully: I don’t believe that is the case. It is nit the role of the regulator to ensure quality, but the provider. If the provider (of any industry) is breaking the law or not meeting standards, the fault and culpability lies with them, not the regulator.
So no, the state is nit legally on the hook in my opinion (but I am not a lawyer)

@M Bowe: what about what about what about………
Your straw argument has nothing to do with mica..
Yup, the tax issue there is crazy, but has nothing to do with this

@Mike: cannot agree. Is the state thus responsible for every issue in every regulated industry…….???

@Kevin McDonnell: You are right. I’ve never understood how the engineers for the purchase builder and financial institutions are not on the hook for this. That is their role to ensure compliance. What about Homebond? Paid out initially and then changed their view!!! Also the standards authority are liable. If the product “passed” standards tests either the standards agency failed or the tests were falsified in which case the quarries are criminally negligent. Irrespective of financial solvency the director should face criminal sanction.

@alphasully: nonsense, a product sold must be fit for its intended purpose. That is consumer law. The state cannot check every single product sold to check it. It is up to suppliers to check a representative sample of their products to ensure they are fit for purpose so that they don’t end up in court later. For some reason that step isn’t happening here.

@Alan Peters: exactly. They should be held to a higher level of accountability, even in Bankruptcy

@john doe: Yeah they seem to be taking the bullying approach rather than take a legal case against the suppliers and insurers. If they had taken a case and lost then they would have more sympathy from the general public but it’s the usual in this country, if you shout loudest you get what you want regardless of competing demands and needs.

@Kevin McDonnell: When you consider there’s around 2 million people that pay income tax that’s more like €1600 for every one of them. I understand there’s other taxes but it’s a better guide. The average PBP type party supporters who would support this nonsense handout likely won’t pay a penny. Comparing bank bailouts etc. to this is surely an argument against it not an argument for it!

@Kevin McDonnell: maybe if the state enforces the rules on these firms Instead of light-touch regulations like what they did to the banks

@Kevin McDonnell: income tax is not the only source of revenue. A rather large part of government revenue is paid by companies and large corporations.

@Kevin McDonnell: Presume they did the Irish thing and signed quarry over to a son/daughter,and quarried on regardless.. Different owners who now can’t be sued ..Just my tuppence worth ..

@Ger Murphy: Home Bond simply doesn’t cover building defects – they’re down to negligence. I’d know, I forked out €30,000 for fire safety remedial works.

@The next small thing: do you have ANY idea how much legal fees for something like this would be? At least 6 figures. Do you think people have that kind of money lying around, particularly when their home is falling apart? No, they don’t. I lived in a boom built apartment with huge fire safety defects – you try and take legal action, you get buried in paperwork. The legal fee pot that everyone has put what they can into disappears within one week. Jaysus wake up and put yourself in these people’s shoes, you think they haven’t tried the legal route already? Even finding a solicitor to take this on is incredibly difficult due to conflict of interest. They’re all busy representing the eejits that created the mess in the first place…

@Alan Peters: yes, that’s literally exactly what they did – set up new companies in the UK, now building over there instead.

@Kevin McDonnell: lack of enforcement of standards = Responsibility

@Gareth Keenan: The average home is covered by the offer of 100% redress up to 350k, the people missing out are those with enormous homes which can only be described as mansions.

Have a look on daft at what 350k buys in Donegal, and then have a look at the properties selling for 600k+. It’s obscene to ask the public to fund the rebuilding of houses like those.

@Rochelle: Agree 100% with you but stop using the word ‘mansion’ it takes away from your message, though you are right

@Rochelle: I get your point but think about the fact that the households in Leinster effected by mica got 100% redress while in other areas they aren’t. These people are being told they need to ensure that the windows and built in furniture like wardrobes and such are reused. Which is fine in principle but exactly how are they store it while house is rebuilt added to that some of these things don’t exactly come out intact. The simple fact is that the government has decided to pay for everything for people in areas that provide a large part of the vote and can protest easily while people further from Dublin who can’t protest as easily or areas that don’t have a large vote get screwed over.

@Peter: Could be wrong but i think you are talking about Pyrite. Average house cost 70k to repair and everything was then put back in, stairs, windows (if removed) kitchen etc. I personally lost 20k on a house despite being remediated for pyrite which I was very grateful to get on the scheme, it still affected the property price v those not affected etc etc. The arguement I keep hearing about the Mica is they want all replaced and one person even told me that they couldnt be expected to use old windows in a new house as the quality compared to new windows isnt comparable….that is nothing to do with mica that is a cost that was likely to have occurred soon anyway and a personal choice. Terrible peoples houses are falling down but 350k would build a large, almost passive house if you already owned the site.

@Peter: If people affected in Donegal were paying the same level of Local Property Tax as people in Dublin then they probably would get the same level of redress.

@Rochelle: €350K might not rebuild the mansion but will cover the cost of building a good house the site is already there as are the foundations Sewerage Septic tank etc,

@Rochelle: It shouldn’t matter whether their home cost €50k or €500k, anyone who buys their home with the money they earned, whether on a small or large salary, deserves to have the knowledge that the family home they bought is safe to live in. How much they earn, or spent on their home, shouldn’t matter.

The State is responsible for this entire mess. For Pyrite, Mica, fire safety deficiencies, water ingress. In New York if you move a wall in your gaff, expect minimum 3 site visits before, during and after works per their building regulations. Here, Stare building regs allow for an apartment building getting a site visit once work is complete. Result – well NAMA spent millions fixing fire safety deficiencies on their housing stock taken from developers. No State regulation.

@Clare McAfee: it should matter though, when other taxpayers who can’t afford a house for themselves are on the hook to pay for it. No reasonable house should cost more than €350k to build. Asking for compensation on top and refusing to reuse windows etc is completely unreasonable. When exactly do you think the state gets its money from? It’s not an endless money tree. Are you happy for it to be taken from the HSE or the transport plan? How about from the fund for social housing?

@Elaine Phelan: so… just because they could afford a house, and because they don’t trust the building process (can’t imagine why) and want to replace a crumbling house with all new, and because the State is 100% at fault here.. they shouldn’t get back what they paid for? Or excuse me, what their bank paid for that they’re now paying a mortgage on, and if they wanted to resell would lose money on…

BTW if you’re renting a boom-built apartment – move out if you can, they aren’t safe to live in.

@Hugh Mc Donnell: if this is the case(and I doubt it) then the state should withdraw all offers to settle amicably and let it go through the courts for the 20 years or so it will take to hear individual claims(no class action in Ireland). Tax payers cannot be held to ransom for unproven trauma not of our making.

@Clare McAfee: where exactly do you think “the state” gets it money from? And given “the state” doesn’t have a magic money tree, where should “the state” get this from? Should they reduce the social housing fund? Should they reduce funding for the health service, maybe scrap the cervical cancer or breast cancer checks? Maybe they should cancel the infrastructure plan? Where would you like this money to come from? You may not be aware but there are only around 2 million taxpayers in this country, the cutoff of earnings for the top 10% of taxpayers is €70k and they pay 60% of all income taxes. Yes these people should be supported, but the offer of €350k is more than most people will ever get from the state and should be more than enough to build a fantastic house

@Rochelle: DIVIDE AND CONQUER – always the strategy of the enemy!

@Elaine Phelan: The State is responsible – end of. If they didn’t want to have to dip into other funds, they should have bloody well made sure that the building regulations were even remotely sufficient. And I didn’t see anyone up in arms when NAMA spent millions of taxpayers money on remedial works to 50% of their empty housing stock that was found to not pass a bog standard fire safety test.

I got a bill on my doorstep the same week I lost my job to illness. I had just applied for social welfare support. I had €80k of medical bills. I’m glad you’d be happy to get €350k back on a house you could have a mortgage for €400k on. But most of us wouldn’t be happy with that – 100% is only fair and right in these circumstances. This could happen to ANYONE.

@Clare McAfee: Clare, you don’t seem to understand that the state’s money comes from the rest of us, from the taxpayers. There has to be a cap on the payouts or it could get totally out of control. If there is no cap, what is to stop unscrupulous builders from sending huge bills to the state i.e. taxpayers, most of whom can’t afford to buy a house for themselves? You need to take a step back and look at the issue objectively. Most of us have great sympathy for your situation, and are firmly behind some redress but there has to be a limit. On the other hand, you don’t appear to have any sympathy at all for the taxpayers who have to foot this bill

@Clare McAfee: your attitude is exactly why people are losing sympathy

@Rochelle: I understand why you say this but if you look in to it a little more you will understand why 100% is needed. A lot of spin on this to make public go against this plan. No mention of billions spent on other things you would never been consulted on or asked if you mind your tax going towards etc. Nobody can comment with any understanding unless they are living it. Lucky are those who can comment without living this nightmare

@Sean Baylon: I’m not sure you’ve thought that through Sean. If patients are being delayed then so are doctors, surgeons, nurses, radiographers, porters etc who are all trying to get to work to help that patient. Missing a few hours out of your work day may not matter to you but it’s not that simple for everyone.

@Deirdre: Thats very noble Deirdre, but none of this was the fault of the State or the Taxpayer. And the 3.2 billion estimate is only for 2 of the 6 affected counties. So, say 6 billion conservatively? Thats 10% of all Government spending in a year, when the State is already loaded with massive additional debt. I’m not saying affected people shouldn’t be assisted or rehoused, but sorry boss, I ain’t paying for your 4,000 sq ft manor. They could rehouse 4 affected families on that spot and maybe thats the solution.

@Sean Baylon: Have you ever worked for anyone? Most employers are upset when you are late. Enough lates and you are fired.

@Eoin Roche: stop spreading false information. The state failed to enforce regulations set out to govern these quarry’s. The state granted planning permission for these quarry’s even though there was evidence of a destructive mineral present. What part of that are you failing to grasp.

@Declan Doherty: be quiet declan

@John Martin: While I do appreciate the consideration and effort that went into such an intelligent and insightful post, I’m going to have to respectfully decline on this occasion.

@Andy mc Laughlin: The part where is became a nationally socialised problem.

@Eoin Roche: not the fault of the State? They haven’t even started with the 1000’s of homes that were built that won’t pass a bog standard fire safety check. The State created the regulation, which was nowhere near fit for purpose. They then went oh woops, better update the regulations and still homes are being built with inadequate fire safety measures, no site visits, no regulatory body – nothing. When a €30,000 bill lands on your doorstep, or the home you bought in good faith crumbles because there was massively inadequate regulation regarding building standards that are the sole responsibility of the state, when your neighbour commits suicide because they’re being hounded for money – then you might open your damn eyes to where this entire mess originated.

@Clare McAfee: your wasting your time trying to explain anything to people like that. Iv tried to explain it before. If something like that lands at their doorstep then they might see the reasoning behind the argument that the state bears some culpability in all this.

@Andy mc Laughlin: this is fully the fault of the State. There was no regulation in place to prevent this, building checks only happened after the building was completed. Too late. A simple test of the blocks being used to build these houses would have prevented this utter mess. But why would they do that when there’s no requirement to do so, and no regulatory body to remove their building licence?

Ironically I had meetings with various politicians in Leinster house when major fire safety issues were discovered at the complex I lived in. At the time there was scaffolding and awning up over part of Leinster house getting works done. On the awning was the name of one of the contractors that worked on my complex that we were seeking redress from at the time. I bloody gave up then.

@Clare McAfee: What a complete nonsense in a country like Ireland where Gardaì are called “sneaky” when they put tickets on wrongly parked cars.

The state must enforce something? Start in rural areas where thousands work without a contract. Start with the guys who drive with 100 km/h through towns and villages. Start with those guys who park ridiculously bad, shutting down the whole traffic in rural towns just because they are too lazy to walk 5 minutes to get their newspapers. Start with the all the people breaking laws every day in this country.

If everyone of those paying the fines for their misbehaviour, there would be way enough money to pay the 100% Mica redress. But of course, nobody wants that.

@Clare McAfee: they were offered compensation to rebuild, up to €350k. They could have it sorted by now if they took that

@Elaine Phelan: Why should they accept less than what they, or their mortgage lender, paid? Just because the houses they bought were expensive? What happens to the cash shortfall? Is it a case of oh well, it didn’t happen to me, and these planks bought an expensive house so they must deserve whats happened to them? They shouldn’t get all their money back if they spent that silly sum on a house in the first place? Do you want them to apologise for wanting the best for themselves?

Oddly enough insurance companies believe like should be replaced with like. Why not here?

@Clare McAfee: the point here is that taxpayers have to foot the bill, so there has to be some kind of cap. The bank bailout (which we were all scandalised by) cost €47bn. This is estimated to cost €32bn, with the cap in place. The law needs to be changed so that suppliers, developers and insurance companies are made liable, not taxpayers. This is not sustainable that it is always up to the taxpayers to fix up. Without a cap, unscrupulous builders will charge crazy amounts and people won’t shop around to find the best deal to get their houses rebuilt. The cutoff for the top 10% of earners in this country is €70k, and they pay 60% of all income tax. How much more do you think they can pay?

@Clare McAfee: in insurance companies bwli CE they should be replaced like with like, why are you asking the taxpayers to fund this?

@Elaine Phelan: *if insurance companies believe they should be replaced like with like, why are you asking the taxpayers who have not been impacted to fund this?

@Philip Jordan: I think it’s the only way to get public attention
This is a humanitarian crisis and the government are not listening
People are at the end of their tether.
Those inconvenienced on M50 should complain to their TD, Maybe add some momentum?
Look to France where this is usual in a protest scenario. Sometimes disruption gains attention, which is needed here

@iohanx: fingers crossed. The law needs to change. It can’t always fall back on taxpayers, whilst the suppliers, developers and insurance companies skip off with the cash

@Clare McAfee:

I take your point. However if I was in that situation, I’d hand the keys back to the bank and tell them it’s their problem. After all, if you take a mortgage out the bank asks you to pay for an engineers report. Why waste years if your life in stress, not worth the money. Start again, you’d win any court case!

@iohanx: that’s in a very ideal world. It doesn’t work that way, unfortunately. The bank forces a sale at a much lower market value, and you’re left in serious financial difficulty. You don’t win any court case, unless you have a big wodge of money to spend on solicitors fees. I’ve seen this happen to hundreds of people in this country. Have a read of Eoin O’Broin’s new book all about building defects in this country. The first chapter is about the suicide of one defective home owner whose bank kept hounding him, and even tho they agreed to a moratorium on his mortgage, it was going to cost him an additional €20,000. He hung himself. You automatically assume that banks, contractors, the government give a beep and would do the right thing – far from it.

@Paul Clifford: but your elected government did not enforce the regulations.

@Clara Meade: the state is not responsible for their crumbling homes either

@Sam Murray: the state is responsible for their light-touch on enforcing regulations on the builders and developers. If I had forked out my life savings for a crumbling mess, I’d want it sorted too. It is up to all of us to demand higher standard from our public bodies and politicians to ensure these issues never arise again.

@David Daly: in an ideal world, that’d work. It doesn’t. Insurance companies don’t give a rats behind – they bury your solicitor in paperwork, making legal fees entirely prohibitive. The group solicitors pot you all chip into what you can – well that disappears very very quickly. Insurance companies know this. They also don’t cover negligence. The builder, architect, designer – all bankrupt. The State – created the building regulations that permitted this negligence. In New York if you want to move a wall in your gaff, expect minimum 3 site visits. Here, for an entire housing complex, ah sure just check it after it’s built, not during. Regulation should have ensured site visits and testing DURING building works. It didn’t.

@David Daly: all avenues have been exhausted
You can research this more and you would see complete abdication of responsibilities from those who should be held to account. Lack of Government regulation is the root cause too.Government are there to serve the people

@Sam Murray: sorry but you have no idea just how responsible the state really are here. The scandal here is that construction industry were allowed to self regulate by a government that turned a blind eye when even the most basic EU regulations were ignored not to mention Irish Government regulations so suppliers in thus case could profiteer and supply defective blocks to unsuspecting buyers and self builders .This has been going on for years and the Government knew it and did nothing about it.
So have a think about that and maybe if it was your home you wouldn’t be making your glib comment

@SABRINA GORMLEY: the Pyrite scheme did not involve knocking down and rebuilding the whole house and internal fittings and fixtures. In fact relations of mine had to save and re-use existing kitchen, toilet and and other fittings, even the carpet had to be saved and re-laid, and this was a small terraced house in Balbriggan, not a macmansion.

@To Mt: Agree!! This anti Dublin sentiment only lets their Councillors and their TD’s off the hook. They elected their politicians to work for them but most are remaining very quiet on the issue.

@SABRINA GORMLEY: I never said they don’t deserve anything did i? I’m speaking about that man and his hatred for dublin which is disgusting. Go watch his videos.

@Gary O’Brien: That is not what happened at all.

@SABRINA GORMLEY: my Dublin home had pyrite and I got zero redress from the government, well apart from a few years exemption from property tax. All the remediation work, rent costs while out of the house etc were paid by premier guarantee which is an alternative to useless homebond. Did none of these houses have building warranty cover?

@Clare McAfee: that’s not a legitimate reason, quickest way to lose support is biting the hand you want to feed you!!

@Clare McAfee:

What’s that got to do with me being stopped from making a crust for my family to live off, Clare?
I had every sympathy with their cause… up until today that is.
Now, I really don’t want my hard earned taxes to be given over to protestors who think its justifiable to block people going to work…. talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

@Clare McAfee: are you 11? So childish

@Clare McAfee: Nasty. You know you’re not the only person in the world suffering? People need to get to medical appointments and medical professionals need to get to work in a timely manner. While I empathise with you, the world doesn’t revolve around you or this issue, and dismissing people’s health concerns as trivial is disgusting