Mica scandal: Full demolition of houses possible, pushing redress scheme over €2bn 

The protest in Dublin on Tuesday to demand a 100% redress scheme for homes and properties affected by bricks contaminated with mica. Picture: Niall Carson

Engineers dealing with the mica problem believe full demolition of all affected houses is required, a solution that would push the bill for the redress scheme over €2bn. 

So far in Donegal, the scheme, which is run by the county council, has recommended that about a quarter of affected houses be demolished. 

Engineers are reluctant to sign off on any houses that have been remediated rather than demolished because of fears mica is still present and could do further damage in years to come.

An estimated 5,000 private homes in Donegal and more across Mayo, Clare, and Sligo are affected by mica, a destructive mineral found in aggregate used for concrete blocks. There is not yet any estimate for the number of social houses or public buildings which used concrete blocks from the same source that may contain mica.

Derry-based engineer Ambrose McCloskey, who is on the panel of engineers appointed to examine houses, wrote to Donegal County Council in February suggesting that homeowners have not been fully informed about the problem.

“Primarily, my concern is that most homeowners believe that once they have the remedial works carried out their home will be ‘problem free’ and fully insurable/mortgageable," he wrote.

Obviously any course of remedial works short of a complete demolition will mean that mica blockwork will remain within the structure (most notably within the internal substructure supporting the house) and thus there is still a high likelihood of further deterioration in the future.”

Mr McCloskey told the Irish Examiner he has written to other engineers on the scheme and many of them share his concerns.

“I know it’s easy for an engineer to say that all should be demolished but I have a lot of genuine reservations about the whole thing, as do others," Mr McCloskey said. 

"You have to wonder whether standards are being influenced by financial pressures to recommend certain remedial work and I don’t believe that that can be a long-term solution.” 

Five options in remedial scheme

There are five options in the remedial scheme that engineers can recommend once mica is discovered. The most expensive is complete demolition to the cost of €275,000 and the least expensive is option five, which is to demolish the outer leaf of external walls, with a cost of €50,000. 

Figures seen by the Irish Examiner show that in 47% of decided cases, the recommendation was for option four, which was rebuilding outer walls at a cost of €75,000. Just 24% of recommendations were for full demolition.

If all affected houses were to be demolished, the total bill would be close to €1.5bn. 

A spokesman for the Mica Action Group said the figures in the scheme date from 2016 and it has presented the minister with 40 examples of where the full demolish and rebuild costs amount to an extra €100,000 per home, which would bring the total cost to over €2bn.