Irish Times view on the mica debacle: huge costs, zero accountability

After months of pressure, the Government has settled on a €2.2 billion package to rebuild or repair 7,500 homes damaged by defective mica blocks in Donegal and Mayo. Taxpayers face an enormous burden for the failings of others. But campaigners for the owners of crumbling homes in Co Donegal are unhappy and there is little sign of anyone being held to account for such a disastrous sequence of events.

Faced with the threatened loss of Coalition seats in the Dáil if claims for more redress were not met, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has gone some way towards acceding to demands to increase the remediation grant to 100 per cent of the cost from 90 per cent. The Minister has however set a €420,000 cap on payments. Campaigners are angry, insisting they could be left with large bills as the scheme “discriminates against bigger houses”.

At issue is a last-minute dash to increase to €145 per square foot from €138 the payment for rebuilding the first 1,000 sq ft in a dwelling. The move reflects high building inflation but homeowners object to a downward sliding scale for work beyond those dimensions. The average size of homes is estimated at 2,300-2,400 sq ft so a wide gap remains between campaigners and the Government. Although O’Brien has committed to a review as early as February, persuading homeowners to accept the plan is still a challenge. The scheme also includes up to €20,000 for alternative accommodation and storage.

For all the complaints, Taoiseach Micheál Martin is correct when he says “this level of State intervention is unprecedented”. Costs have rocketed over the last few months. The average cost per home was €150,000 early in the original 90 per cent scheme. It is almost three times as high in the new incarnation.

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In the Housing Agency’s new role as agent for local authorities in assessing applications, it must protect taxpayers. This is a basic requirement. If one root cause of the debacle was a failure to enforce building regulations, the risk of unregulated remediation is all too clear.

After pyrite, fire-hazard apartments and unfinished ghost estates, mica is but the latest exemplar of shoddy practices, some associated with the Celtic Tiger era, to leave a costly mess for the State to clean up. Although the damage is done here, the Government will establish a building standards regulator and an industry register in a bid to prevent any repeat. Yet the lack of accountability is glaring, with no action against suppliers of defective blocks. Options for pursuing potentially liable wrongdoers “will be explored” and a review of latent defects insurance undertaken, long after insurers said mica damage was not a covered peril. All very late. The Minister talks of a construction levy in 2023. Ensuring such costs are not passed to consumers is another matter.