Michael Clifford: Mica working group has bought Government time – but will it bring homeowners satisfaction?

The Mica working group has missed its deadline to sort out the standoff between homeowners and the department, and representatives are resigning. What next?

Thousands of homeowners and their supporters from Donegal and Mayo descended on the capital on June 15. They were mad as hell that a scheme to recompense them for defective concrete blocks provided for the State to pay up to 90% of the cost, with homeowners picking up the remainder of the tab. File picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

There was more than a touch of Yes Minister to the establishment of a working group to examine the defective concrete block scheme. 

Cast your mind back to June 15, when there was a wild display of colour and passion outside the Convention Centre in Dublin where the Dáil was sitting.

Thousands of homeowners and their supporters from Donegal and Mayo descended on the capital to assert their rights. They were mad as hell that a scheme to recompense them for defective concrete blocks provided for the State to pay up to 90% of the cost, with homeowners picking up the remainder of the tab. 

A similar scheme for homes in Leinster affected by pyrite provided full redress. Were those in the North-West less equal than their fellow homeowners closer to the centres of power?

The protest rattled the Government. 

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien speaks to campaigners at the mica protest in June. File picture: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien met a delegation and announced the establishment of a working group to sort things out. The group would have three representatives each from Donegal and Mayo (and a substitute member from each county) along with departmental and other officials. Crucially, the group was given a six-week deadline, to report by the end of July.

So far, so Bernard Woolly, the fictional private secretary to Minister Jim Hacker in Yes Minister. 

Sir Bernard certainly would have approved of the plan. Take the heat out of the protest by offering an olive branch. Draw the afflicted homeowners into the process. Promise that this time it will be different. 

Set a deadline that is far enough in the future that the anger will have dissipated. And above all, buy that most precious commodity in politics, time.

Two months on from the protest, and two weeks after the deadline came and went, things are not looking too hot. File Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Two months on from the protest, and two weeks after the deadline came and went, things are not looking too hot. 

Agreement was not reached by deadline day between officials and the homeowners. Reportedly, the homeowners were given the department’s position paper less than a week before the deadline, which left little room for proper examination or consultation with their constituent organisations. Five of the eight homeowners – including subs – have resigned, the latest two earlier this week.

“We have not made this decision lightly,” a resignation letter from the two representatives, Dorothy Keane and Josephine Murphy, states.  

The one-sided dogmatic approach by the department and their failure to engage in a genuine manner to address the issues that urgently need to be dealt with leaves us with no choice but to step away.”  

In the department’s position paper, seen by the Irish Examiner, eight separate areas of concern are addressed. The department is willing to talk about ancillary costs and a few other minor aspects. But on the divvy up of the overall costs, the main focus of June’s protest, there is no shifting them.

“The department is satisfied that the current scheme will work on a 90/10 basis for the vast majority of homeowners,” it states.

Sir Bernard certainly would have approved of the plan. Take the heat out of the protest by offering an olive branch. Draw the afflicted homeowners into the process. Promise that this time it will be different. 

The obvious question that arises is why does this differ from the scheme set up for those in the Leinster area for pyrite.

Of course, one of the reasons why the State is having to fork out most of the money is that those responsible for the presence of the destructive material mica in the blocks are off the hook. 

No process has been established which could seek redress from either the block manufacturer or the insurance sector which is nominally supposed to cover such issues. 

Neither are the mortgage providers, who had their own responsibility to assess the completed work, expected to contribute.

Paddy Diver, mica campaigner and co-founder of '100% Redress No Less’, with supporters as he entered Leinster House on June 15 to speak to Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien. File Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

According to the department’s position paper, this avenue was already explored in setting up the pyrite scheme for the Leinster homes. 

“An attempt was made to introduce an insurance industry levy at that time to help fund remediation works but this was deemed unconstitutional.” 

The Irish Examiner previously reported on documents obtained under Freedom of Information which showed the insurance industry threatened to take legal action over that proposed levy, but nowhere is there reference to actual legal advice that it might be unconstitutional. It would appear the Government’s stomach to take on homeowners is not evident when it comes to confronting industry lobbying.

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Now the department says it will back homeowners in any attempt to seek assistance from the various industry groups, but don’t hold your breath in anticipation of a result.

A spokesperson for the department remains upbeat about the future of the working group. 

“We will be actively engaging with Mayo homeowners to identify replacements for the working group who will attend the meetings on behalf of all homeowners affected within the local authority area,” he said.

“All areas of the scheme are under discussion and no final decisions have been made.” 

Everything will be back up and running next month. Mr O’Brien’s working group has certainly bought him and the department some time, but whether it will make a whit of difference to the stricken homeowners burden remains to be seen.