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The government has announced a support package for families affected by the mica crisis, with a remedy cap of 420,000 euros per family.
This afternoon, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien announced the plan. It will cover approximately 7,500 housing units, including 1,000 social housing units, with a total cost of 2.2 billion euros.
The homeowner will be entitled to 145 Euros per square foot for the first 1,000 feet of their property, 110 Euros per square foot for the second 1,000 feet, and 100 Euros per square foot for the rest.
Opposition politicians criticized this declining scale, saying it will leave homeowners with considerable unpaid costs.
O'Brien said that homeowners who had to leave the house during the renovation project are entitled to a rent of up to 15,000 euros and a storage fee of 5,000 euros.
O'Brien pointed out that this figure is 800 million euros more than the current plan. He said the plan covers all remedial measures, including demolition.
Minister Fianna Fáil pointed out that the government must ensure that owners of smaller houses affected by mica are not "discriminated" in terms of the rate of subsidy received per square foot.
"This newly enhanced plan ensures absolute equal treatment on the northwest and east coasts, and in some cases even goes a step further," he said.
Holiday homes are not included in the plan, and are included if the rental property has been registered with the Residential Tenancy Commission. O'Brien said this is estimated to apply to "approximately 900" properties.
It was also announced that industry taxation will be introduced in 2023 to deal with the plan and other family defects.
O'Brien said that better mental health support will be provided to families and homeowners, and a senior consultant will be appointed to review the role of the industry to resolve some issues.
Today’s announcement comes nearly two months after a government report estimated that the plan could cost up to 3.2 billion euros.
The report was severely criticized by campaign groups because it showed that although houses that require some external demolition and repair are entitled to 100% of the cost coverage, complete demolition and reconstruction will not receive 100% coverage.
Activists such as the Mica Action Group stated that the plan should cover 100% of the expenses incurred by the homeowner, including renting during house repairs or reconstruction.
The crisis stems from the presence of natural mineral muscovite in the concrete blocks used to build houses.
The presence of mica will absorb moisture, weaken the concrete and cause the house walls to crack and fall apart.
In Parliament this afternoon, Sinn Fein criticized the government's plan, claiming that some homeowners will face bills of more than 45,000 euros.
Pearse Doherty TD criticized the plan’s cap of 145 euros per square foot, which only applies to the first 1,000 square feet, which will then be adjusted proportionally.
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He said that according to the current plan, Donegal County Council costs an average of 150 Euros per square foot.
“The average size of houses in Donegal affected by mica is 2,300 square feet. Based on your sliding scale, this means someone has to find 45,500 euros to build a house on their own,” he told Dail.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said that the method was designed by SCSI, and it found that the annual average price was 138 Euros per square foot.
He said that there are "economies of scale" and the method chosen will not "make smaller houses at a disadvantage, which represent most of the houses covered by the plan."
'The scale must be regulated'
Donegal Thomas Pringle's independent TD stated that the government's mica remediation plan is "not enough."
During the leader’s question, he also stated that families hit by scandals in defective neighborhoods “cannot afford the last plan, nor can they afford this plan”.
He said that in a briefing on the details of the plan this morning, the Minister of Housing did not tell the affected homeowners about the "decline in scale."
"I just talked to the members of the Mica Action Redress Group and they confirmed to me that when the minister spoke to them this morning, there was no mention of the split or floating ratio," he said.
"He talked about the price per square foot, nothing more."
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Sinn Féin TD’s Pearle Doherty and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn stated that the government needs to “return to the position expressed to the families this morning and then withdraw from them” and remove the floating ratio regulations.
Mac Lochlainn and Doherty said in a joint statement: "It is now clear that the'sliding ratio' clause introduced by the Cabinet in the mica/pyrite remediation plan today makes the reconstruction cost of those affected by mica and pyrite much lower. In the market cost." A statement was issued tonight.
"This means that homeowners have to pay tens of thousands of euros out of their pockets. Ordinary workers and families in Donegal and other parts of the West Coast don't have that kind of money, which is why the previous plan failed.
"The Mica Action Group has made it clear that the'sliding ratio' clause must be cancelled."
-Reported by Céimin Burke and the Press Association
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Mica compensation: In the 2.2 billion euro plan, the cap of the package plan for homeowners is 420,000 euros
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