Irish Examiner view: Mica misery affects people all around the country

Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, and Sligo are revealed to have been affected too, so the cost of redress may surge well past €2.2bn

Taoiseach Micheál Martin meeting mica campaigners during a visit to Derry. While the building materials issue has been most closely associated with the north west of Ireland, a new report suggests there are many householders affected in Munster too: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

If the Government thought proposed legislation to provide grants to homeowners in Mayo and Donegal affected by mica would bring a welcome end to the controversy, its hopes might have been a little on the optimistic side.

Yesterday, it was revealed that an unpublished report on the enhanced defective concrete block scheme by engineering experts predicted similar issues in several other counties. The presence of mica in concrete blocks in Mayo and Donegal caused them to crumble, and it appears homeowners in those two counties are not the only ones in despair.

The Department of Housing is already in talks with local authorities in Clare, Tipperary, Sligo, and Limerick to extend the scheme. It now appears it will have to be widened further to cope with growing numbers of complainants countrywide.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien is now planning to write to local authorities countrywide to try to get a handle on the extent of the problem. Private homeowners who have had their buildings tested are increasingly finding mica-linked defects.

With €2.2bn already set aside to rebuild and remediate houses affected by mica, it now looks like the Government might be looking at a much bigger hole in exchequer funds.