Mica campaigners 'won't accept' €350,000 limit on redress scheme

Only offering 100% redress to houses up to €350,000 would exclude 40% of affected homeowners, campaigners say

Mica protesters at Leinster House on Merrion Square, Dublin yesterday. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Mica campaigners have warned the government that an expected compensation cap of €350,000 will not be accepted by the group.

Such a limit, which has been rumoured in recent days, would exclude around 40% of the homeowners affected.

The housing minister has told Mica campaigners that he will bring a memo to Cabinet in two or three weeks time aimed at improving the redress scheme for their crumbling homes. Darragh O'Brien yesterday attended the final meeting of the Defective Concrete Blocks Working Group.

While no specific cap was mentioned at that meeting, it has been rumoured that 100% redress will be offered up to the value of €350,000.

“We cannot leave people behind, there should be no one left behind,” Michael Doherty, a spokesperson for the Mica redress campaign, told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“I’m very concerned at this kite-flying.” 

Various numbers for a cap were being “floated” he said, from €350,000 to €500,000. 

“There was nothing concrete” indicated about a figure at the meeting with the minister. 

“This is the usual form, stuff being leaked through to see where it goes. We won’t accept €350,000 as it leaves 40% behind.”

Any proposal that excluded 40% of mica home owners was not acceptable, he repeated.

Mr Doherty pointed out that owners already faced €40,000 in costs required for testing, planning permissions, and rental accommodation. The figures the home owners were basing their claims on were those used by insurance companies and were for “basic finishes” for the homes affected.

A protest will be held outside Leinster House today demanding 100% redress. “The fault lies with the lack of regulations and the lack of enforcement of regulations by the State at that time,” he added.

An estimated 7,000 homes are affected by defective buildings blocks in Co Donegal alone, with many more in Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Limerick. 

Donegal TD Joe McHugh has described the idea of a cap as "a crude instrument".

The former Fine Gael minister pointed out that the pyrite scheme had not been capped.

Mr McHugh said he knew that the issue had caused a lot of upset, but that the mica group had taken a “very responsible position” and that they did not want to see taxpayers’ money being wasted.

Many people had put their “life efforts and life savings” into their homes, he added.

The homeowners were seeking ratification of something that was totally out of their control.

People could not be excluded, he added.