Seanad debates

Thursday, 20 December 2018

Commencement Matters

Mica Redress Scheme

10:40 am

Photo of Catherine ByrneCatherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. I wish to acknowledge the distressing circumstances experienced by the owners and residents of homes where defects have emerged in the blockwork. As the Senator will be aware, building defects are matters for resolution between the contracting parties involved - the homeowner, the builder, the developer and-or their respective insurers or structural guarantee or warranty scheme.

The Expert Panel on Concrete Blocks was established by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government in 2016 to investigate problems that had emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in counties Donegal and Mayo. The report of the expert panel was published in 2017 and included eight recommendations. The Department is actively progressing these with the relevant stakeholders, including prioritising the implementation of recommendations 1 and 2. With regard to recommendation 1, the NSAI established a technical committee to scope and fast-track the development of a standardised protocol which would inform the course of action in regard to remedial works for all affected householders.

After publishing a draft protocol for consultation, a final standardised protocol was published by NSAI on 13 November 2018. The benefit of this is that it provides a standardised approach for assessing and categorising the damage in properties where the concrete blocks are suspected to contain the minerals mica or pyrite. Previously, there was no common way for engineers or homeowners to assess the damage caused by defective concrete blocks to help decide what, if any, remedial work could be carried out. This standard does the following: it establishes a protocol for assessing and determining whether a building has been damaged by concrete blocks containing certain excessive amounts of deleterious materials; it describes methods for establishing the extent of the problem; it describes the scope of any testing required; and it categorises buildings and provides competent persons with guidance on the appropriate measures to be taken.

With regard to recommendation 2, the Department has been in contact with Engineers Ireland regarding the establishment of a register of competent engineers for the reference of homeowners or affected parties. Engineers Ireland has provided assurance that it is in the process of finalising measures to establish such a register now that the standardised protocol is in place. Engineers Ireland recently issued a call for suitably qualified engineers to participate on the register.

Over the past two years the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, has visited Donegal and Mayo on a number of occasions and met key stakeholders, including affected homeowners, elected representatives and officials of the local authorities and other interested parties. The Government approved in principle the development of a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in the two counties to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged due to defective concrete blocks in budget 2019. The putting in place of such a scheme is a key priority for the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Work in this regard is under way and it necessarily involves discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in regard to the conditions that will apply to the scheme and the associated costs. The intention is to revert to Government early in the new year with proposals for the scheme, after which details of it will be published as soon as possible. While I do not have a date for the Senator as to when that will be, it is clear the proposed scheme will be identified early in the new year and details will be published as soon as possible.

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