Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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2163. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the report on MICA will be published before the summer recess; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26867/17]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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2209. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding the situation of persons in counties Mayo and Donegal whose houses have been affected by pyrite; and the timeframe for dealing with this issue. [27618/17]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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2254. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to establish a redress scheme for homeowners affected by mica in the north west in view of the recent publication of the expert panel report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28860/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2163, 2209 and 2254 together.

The Expert Panel on concrete blocks was established by my Department in April 2016, to investigate the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in Counties Donegal and Mayo.  The panel had the following terms of reference:

- (i) To identify, insofar as it is possible, the numbers of private dwellings which appear to be affected by defects in the blockwork in the Counties of Donegal and Mayo;

- (ii) To carry out a desktop study, which would include a consultation process with affected homeowners, public representatives, local authorities, product manufacturers, building professionals, testing laboratories, industry stakeholders and other relevant parties, to establish the nature of the problem in the affected dwellings;

- (iii) To outline a range of technical options for remediation and the means by which those technical options could be applied; and

- (iv) To submit a report within six months.

The Expert Panel on concrete blocks met with many key stakeholders, including affected homeowners, the elected members of Donegal and Mayo County Councils, local authority officials, industry bodies, academics, public representatives and other interested parties.  A substantial volume of information was provided by affected homeowners in both counties, as well as from Donegal and Mayo County Councils, while additional information was also provided through the deliberative process of the Panel.

The panel concluded its meetings on 3 February 2017. The draft final report was sent for legal proofing. The Chair of the expert panel submitted the final report, to my Department on 6 June 2017 and it was published on the 13 June 2017. The report is available on my Department's website at the following link: .

In relation to the scale of the problem, based upon the information received, the Panel estimates that the minimum number of private homes affected in County Donegal is likely to be approximately 1,200 dwellings although there may be as many as 4,800 dwellings potentially affected. In addition, a total of 541 social housing units are considered to be affected by Donegal County Council.  This figure may rise as the Council continue to investigate the emergence of the problem within their housing stock.

In the case of County Mayo, the Panel estimates that the minimum number of private dwellings likely to be affected is approximately 345 dwellings.  Based upon the available information, the Panel cannot be more definitive than this in their estimation. A total of 17 social housing units across 3 estates are known to be affected by Mayo County Council.

The Panel's report concludes that the nature of the problem is manifested primarily by the disintegration of the concrete blocks used in the construction of the affected dwellings in Counties Donegal and Mayo.  This in turn has resulted in the appearance of a particular pattern of cracking in the external render of these dwellings.  The dwellings are single storey, dormer and two-storey with both housing estates and one-off rural types constructed by contract and by self-build affected. On the basis of the information received, the Panel is of the view that the reason for the widespread pattern cracking in the affected dwellings is primarily due to excessive amounts of materials in the aggregate used to manufacture the concrete blocks which gave rise to deleterious effects.  The material in County Donegal was primarily muscovite mica while in County Mayo it was primarily reactive pyrite.

In many of the affected dwellings, the problems appear to have been exacerbated by their location in geographic areas of severe exposure and the ingress of moisture into the concrete blocks; the problems were possibly accelerated by the extreme weather conditions arising in the severe winters of 2009 and 2010 in particular.

A total of 5 engineering solutions have been proposed by the panel as remedial solutions to address the problems in the two counties ranging from removal and replacement of the outer leaf of affected walls only to complete rebuild of the dwelling.

There are eight recommendations contained in this report and my Department is taking action to implement recommendations, and will be in contact with relevant bodies shortly. 

In addition and in light of the information contained in the report,  I am currently considering what further actions may be required to assist the parties directly involved in reaching a satisfactory resolution to the problems that have emerged in the two counties.