According to the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, under a government programme initiated nearly four years past, just 61 dwellings with faulty blocks have been fully rectified. It’s also been reported that the Government has not yet brought a senior counsel on board to probe into the issue of the faulty blocks, contrary to their pledge last year. The committee has learnt that since 2021, only €44 million of the reserved €100m fund for defective blocks has been utilised.
In the recent update from the Department of Housing, the Housing Agency, County and City Management Association, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), and Engineers Ireland, the committee learned about the progress of the Government’s scheme to address faulty blocks. A more effective version of this initiative was brought forward last year. Figures released on Thursday reveal that until May 1, the new scheme had received 436 applications. However, among these, 16 could not qualify as they did not surpass the damage threshold, and 195 have been either offered or granted the assistance money.
The financial aid offered in the scheme can reach a ceiling of €420,000, which includes funding for temporary accommodation (€15,000), storage costs (€5,000), and essential immediate repairs (€5,000). The Assistant Secretary in the Department of Housing, Áine Stapleton, stated that since the inception of the programme last July, more than 2,000 applications are at different stages of the process. The local authorities, along with the Housing Agency, manage the scheme.
During the meeting, Eoin Ó’Broin, a representative of Sinn Féin TD enquired about the total number of households receiving the full grant, whether it’s under the old scheme or the latest one, from the attendees. Kevin Kelly, the CEO of Mayo County Council, disclosed that only 18 completed projects are in Mayo, and 43 are in Donegal, which makes a total of 61 remediated defective homes to date.
Mr Kelly confirmed that the increase in numbers for the remediation scheme is significant. He expects to see completion of 50 cases in Mayo, with a comparable rise in Donegal by the year’s end. However, questioning the scheme’s effectiveness, Mr Ó’Broin highlighted the fact that the full grant had been received by only approximately 60 homes while only 195 new applications had received an offer, despite the scheme running for multiple years.
There are ongoing concerns about the veracity of the national protocol backing the multibillion-euro remediation project. A comprehensive review won’t take place until next year as the NSAI are currently awaiting essential research. Additionally, complications around potentially destructive materials existing within the properties continue to surface. A few homeowners in Donegal were previously made aware of both pyrrhotite and mica in their concrete blocks. Pyrrhotite is an iron sulphide that can cause concrete to crack and swell when it reacts with oxygen and water. This concern isn’t theoretical; there are international precedents of house degradation due to pyrrhotite in both Connecticut and Quebec.
Pointing to possible misdiagnoses Pádraig Mac Lochlainn of Sinn Féin TD compared the situation to being “diagnosed with the wrong cancer”. The IS 465 protocol currently used to assess the damage could potentially overlook homes with outer leaf remediation but with inner blockwork or foundations intact, possibly containing pyrrhotite.
While waiting for the requisite research, Geraldine Larkin, CEO of the NSAI, iterated their commitment to move forward. She stated they are eager to provide definitive scientific answers, and will ensure any decisions made will be supported by scientific evidence.
Lastly, despite a last year’s government pledge, it was revealed to Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan that there is still no senior counsel appointed to hold the suppliers of the faulty blocks accountable.
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