It appears ‘inevitable’ that the Mica Redress scheme will have to be extended to counties outside of Donegal and Mayo, according to the Expert Working Group Defective Concrete Block Scheme.
A new report, published today, is advising the Housing Minister to plan for the scheme to be extended to other countries affected by defective blocks.
The group said that the lack of certainty over how widespread the Mica problem may be is problematic.
“Engineers Ireland have signalled that their members have been testing homes in other counties the results of which are indicating that the problem may be far more widespread than feared,” the report said. They said there is ‘no certainty’ over how many homes in additional counties may ultimately be impacted.
There are widespread reports that defective concrete blocks are present in properties in Clare, Sligo, Limerick and Tipperary. The local authorities in those areas are currently working on submissions to the Department for inclusion of their areas in the scheme.
The report also advises Minister Darragh O’Brien to set time limits on certain stages of the scheme, such as decisions by local authorities and the Housing Agency.
The group’s report was finalised on 16th March. At this time, they said they were reviewing the SCSI Report for the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. Their advice on the matter of the grant model was that the actual grant rates would not be set out in the primary legislation, but in regulations, due to the rates being reviewed annually in line with changes in construction cost.
The enhanced version of the Mica scheme is expected to be operational by early autumn 2022.
The Expert Working Group on the implementation of the Defective Concrete Block Scheme is chaired by independent engineer Paul Forde.
Read the report in full at: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/5cb64-report-of-the-expert-group-on-the-enhanced-defective-concrete-blocks-grant-scheme/
