Government must ‘urgently implement’ EU report on defective blocks crisis

The Government has been called on to urgently implement recommendations from an EU report on the defective blocks crisis that has called for the State’s redress scheme to be improved.

The European Parliament's Petitions Committee on Tuesday unanimously passed the report which was the result of a fact-finding mission by MEPs last year. The mission had followed on from representations made to the EU’s Petitions Committee by defective blocks campaigners from Donegal.

The key recommendations of the report include that the scheme be improved to address the concerns expressed by homeowners by widening its scope, reducing red tape, and speeding up the progress of the process.

The report says the scheme should show more flexibility and take better account of the financial burden of all the costs, such as the cost for new foundations, full accommodation, rental costs and the costs associated with storage of furniture and personal belongings.

The market surveillance system in Ireland needs to be significantly enhanced and a public inquiry should be held, the report also recommended.

The controversial use of the term “force majeure nature” was dropped from the amendments to the draft report after concerns were raised that the phrase would suggest the crisis was an act of God.

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The report will be forwarded to local, regional and national authorities in Ireland and to the European Commission.

Independent MEP Luke Flanagan, who has worked with defective blocks campaigners from Donegal, said the adoption of the report “is vindication of the tireless campaigning of affected homeowners and validation of the unprecedented situation they find themselves in”.

“This has been the culmination of three years' work from initial contact with the petitioners, bringing them to Brussels to make a presentation at the Petitions Committee, following this up with initiatives to keep the issue to the fore and lobbying the Petitions Committee to come to Ireland to see the situation first hand and produce the report,” he said.

Mr Flanagan called on the Government to act upon the report. “It is time to do the right thing. Adequate funding must be put in place to finance the necessary remedial actions. This must be backed up by a sufficient level of human resources to implement a scheme that is fit for purpose and deliver full redress to affected homeowners in a timely fashion.”

MEP Maria Walsh called for the Government to “urgently implement” the recommendations “to ensure 100% redress”.
The Fine Gael MEP, who was a member of the fact-finding mission, said she believes the report is an accurate reflection of the mission “and provides a clear picture of the experiences the homeowners and families devastated by the mica and pyrite crisis have been faced with”.

“The current scheme is not sufficient and needs to be reworked. Today’s report reflects this by highlighting the need to include costs of new foundations, provisional accommodation and rental costs.

“I am happy to see the wording that the crisis has a ‘force majeure nature’ was dropped from Amendment 10, meaning that there is no reference to ‘force majeure’ in the report, as I had called for.

“The report contains several recommendations on redress, and the onus is now on the Irish Government to implement them as a matter of urgency. The Government must acknowledge the failings of the current scheme, and provide 100% redress for the families and homeowners affected.