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VICTIMS OF THE Mica scandal have told the Oireachtas housing committee this morning that they still have outstanding concerns about the updated redress scheme launched earlier this month.
The enhanced concrete block remediation scheme entered into law earlier this month and opened to applications at the beginning of this week after significant delays.
Speaking at today’s committee hearing Martina Hegarty, whose home in Mayo was built using defective concrete blocks, outlined the “mental and physical anguish” of living with a defective home.
She noted that there was “practically no announcement” of the new scheme and said instead of fixing everything as expected it creates “more roadblocks for homeowners”.
“A year after the scheme was rushed through the Dáil with no meaningful amendments from the government, we are told to have patience. We are told the scheme is 100%, yet every single homeowner who has done the calculations is going to be paying in part to rebuild their homes,” Hegarty said.
“A homeowner must sit, wait and watch their cracks widen until they reach a certain level to reach a meaningless damage threshold, that has no interest in science,” she added.
Hegarty highlighted the fact that homeowners availing of the scheme are expected to oversee the rebuilding of their homes themselves and that they are “at the mercy” of builder availability.
“A homeowner is required to project manage the rebuild of their homes.
“Collect endless paperwork, contact the local authorities, deal with an on-line application, source engineers, architects, builders, deal with banks, insurance companies, and worst of all, find a location to rent in the midst of a housing crisis. How?,” Hegarty asked the committee.
She also highlighted the issue of a home’s foundations falling outside of the scheme and drew attention to the lack of retrospective support available for homeowners who have already used their own money to repair or demolish their homes.
“Worst of all, you are left in the constant fear of what lies beneath. Because foundations are a massive issue that is not covered in the scheme,” Hegarty said.
Earlier this month, Sinn Féin also drew attention to the absence of retrospective redress under the scheme.
Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on housing Eoin Ó Broin said: “It does not provide 100% redress. It does not provide retrospective redress. It does not include foundations impacted by pyrrhotite, and IS 495 – the industry standard underpinning the original scheme – remains in place.
“This standard has been undermined by the emerging scientific evidence and has resulted in large number of applications for funding being stalled and it is likely that this will continue in the revised scheme. The damage threshold cannot be used as a barrier to access the scheme.”
Also in attendance at today’s committee hearing was Dr. Martina Cleary from the Clare Pyrite Action Group.
Cleary said she was pleased that after three years of a “very tough campaign” homeowners in County Clare have been included in the government scheme.
However, she said it should not have taken this long and that outstanding concerns about the “logistical and financial feasibility” of the scheme remain.
“In the three years of reaching this point, our homes have degenerated further and with them, also the health and well-being of those living through this crisis,” Cleary said.
Cleary’s key concern is that the grant is not 100% redress and because of the upfront costs homeowners will have to meet, the scheme will be inaccessible for many.
Cleary said there is “no doubt” the scheme will not cover the actual cost of rebuilding or remediation even for smaller houses.
“Homeowners will be tens of thousands short in meeting true materials and labour costs, for a simple builder’s finish,” she said.
“In addition to this, the professional fees incurred for progression through the stages of the scheme, will place huge up-front financial burdens on homeowners. Many will not have the resources, nor access to loans to cover these.
“It falls far short in every aspect in restoring people’s homes,” Cleary added.
Defective building blocks containing excessive deposits of the minerals mica and pyrite have seen thousands of properties start to crumble across the country.
An estimated 5,000 homes in Co Donegal are affected, with thousands more understood to have faulty blocks in counties Sligo, Clare and Limerick.
As of June last year, the estimated cost of the scheme stood at €2.7 billion.
When the scheme was signed off on, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said the total grant amount per home would be capped at €420,000.
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They shouldn’t be complaining with the support they’ve gotten. Most built by family and friends on the cheap with little to no mortgage and no standards applied.
They’ll do well in the end.
@Are the Star Presenters paying Paye Or Lower Busin: Correct. They’re gaining no matter what way it’s viewed.
@Robert Grimes: It’s not correct at all, and it’s a horrible generalisation to throw out. I don’t believe that the state should carry the can for this, but neither should the thousands of victims be left to live in crumbling houses with their families.
The way some people portray this as a money-grab is truly sickening. I’d love for you to be in the same position for even a week and you might become a little more empathetic. These are normal folk who fell on this through no fault of their own.
£420k sounds generous especially when they dont have to buy the site.
Another badly written article. The main problem is pyrrohtite. Houses in the west and North West are riddled with the stuff. Especially foundations. Over time, it turns concrete to soft weetabix. I know the private homes affected in DonegaL alone is over 10k. All social housing built in the past 20 years is affected. Walk around letterkenny, and all commercial buildings built in the past 20 years are cracked to hell. The multistory at Scally McDaid place is literally falling down. This is a scandal of biblical proportions and jeeps getting kicked down the road. It’s this government’s fault. They need to own it.
@IPatrick Robinson: it’s not the government’s fault. It’s the fault of the manufacturer who made the concrete. They failed to do their jobs. Millions of people do their jobs correctly without the government having to check up on it, those who made the concrete should have done the same. They chose not to and cut corners to make more money. That’s on them and they should be the ones who pay to fix the damage
Thanks to FFGs deliberate dithering, time wasting and kicking cans down roads the cost of any rebuilding is now way more expensive than it should have been.
Has any journalist asked a housing minister, why it is that the Govt are not pursuing the quarry owners, the insurance companies, the Banks and engineers etc etc. If, as they say, that this is going to affect a lot of the West Coast, the costs could be closer to E7billion. All of the above are still in business and there are only 6 people (P.Time), allocated in Dept of Housing, to inspect new buildings. Have Govt learnt nothing. This has nothing got to do with being ” anti mica people”, it is all about accountability and being equal in the eyes of the law. This is all about the next general election in Donegal and some West coast constituencies. Power is obviously more important than the People!
If the government rebuilt the pyrite damaged homes then they must rebuild mica damaged homes. Just rebuild the homes and stop whinging about it. A hospital in Rialto is going to come in around double the price of the mica damaged homes.
@quacquac 51:
One of the problems with the scheme is the house has to be built the same size as the origional house, alot of the houses when built for a family around 20 years ago, more than likely the family does not need the same size house
Not our problem, give them nothing
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