The Department of Environment recently confirmed that the investigation into the issue of defective MICA blocks in counties Donegal and Mayo has been completed. The MICA report is now expected to be published in the next few weeks.

For homeowners who have been affected so disastrously by the defective blocks, the main hope is that the report will announce the launch of a redress scheme. But first, let’s take a look back at the investigation and the key milestones:

Background to the Mica Report

An expert panel was established to investigate the problems that emerged from defective concrete blockwork in Donegal and Mayo homes. It was chaired by Mr. Dennis McCarthy, on behalf of the Minister for the Environment. Mr McCarthy is a former director of services with Waterford County Council.

The expert panel had the following terms of reference:

• 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.
• To carry out a desktop study to establish the nature of the problem in the affected dwellings – this included consultation with affected homeowners, public representatives, local authorities, product manufacturers, building professionals, testing laboratories, industry stakeholders and other relevant parties.
• To outline a range of technical options for remediation and the means by which those technical options could be applied.

What the Mica Report should include

What I would like to see from the report is:

• Ultimately an announcement by the Minister that he will be setting up a redress scheme like the Pyrite Redress Scheme.
• A true account of the actual scale of the problem here in County Donegal.
• How this happened and where the systems broke down to allow the issue to occur.
• A full detailed comprehensive investigation carried out by the Department of Environment into the suspected suppliers of these blocks.
• Proposals on how to address the appropriate remedial building work for the homes affect and how to certify that work, once it is done. At presen,t homeowners cannot afford to pay for the kind of detailed investigations they would need to help them determine remedial work.
• Follow up action to ensure this issue doesn’t occur again: Does this mean a complete overhaul of the new building regulations and construction products legislation? I feel we need a Regulatory body over the entire Construction Industry like the financial services, insurance and food industries.

If your home has been affected by Mica, then please feel free to call us on +353 74 9129243 or email damien@consultingengineers.ie