MEPs to carry out defective concrete investigation in Donegal

A delegation of MEPs will jet into Donegal on Monday to examine the defective concrete crisis.

MEPs from Spain, Estonia, Latvia and Ireland are due in the county on a three-day mission. The objective is to fact find and form a complete picture of the impact and issues of the crisis with a report to be submitted to the EU Commission.

The international team will be headed up by Chair Ms. Dolors Monserrat.

The group will visit impacted homes and affected buildings. They will speak to homeowners, campaigners, scientists, engineers, political and administrative representatives.

Initial representations to the EU Parliament were spearheaded by campaigner Joe Morgan two years ago in collaboration with petitioning homeowners, University of Ulster researchers Professor Paul Dunlop and Dr. Eileen Doherty, Mica Action Group (MAG) and the support of the Left Group in the EU Parliament.

Mr Morgan said: “The EU Delegation visit to Donegal has been over two years in the making following the initial submission of 8 petitions to the EU Parliament. In November 2021 we travelled to Brussels where impacted homeowners presented to the EU Petitions Committee. The Committee decided unanimously to leave the Petitions Open for further investigation.

“The fact that we have managed to secure the mission is an indication of the seriousness and scale of the defective concrete crisis. It is clearly a concern to legislators that it has been escalated to the highest level of the EU Parliament. The visit has been designed to ensure that the EU delegates are left in no doubt of the shattering impact of this catastrophe first hand - not only the destruction of our homes and other affected buildings, but also the emotional, physical and financial damage it has wrought on our communities by being allowed to persist unaddressed for so long.”

The local group hope that a report from the visiting delegation will spur the EU Commission into discussion with the Irish Government to provide effective remediation to impacted families.

Lisa Hone, Chair of the Mica Action Group said: “In their response to the EU Petitions Committee, the Irish Government admit that their market surveillance was inadequate. They state due to limited resources available, enforcement action relating to the construction products directive was generally carried out on a reactive basis.

“Despite a litany of defective buildings emerging in recent history it seems little has changed. We have to keep pushing for intervention from the EU because we are not seeing the fundamental changes and action needed from the Irish Government to ensure that consumers are protected.

“Almost two years ago at the end of November 2021, on the very day that campaigning homeowners were at the EU in Brussels representing their impacted community, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien announced he would appoint a senior counsel to review how the defective concrete crisis occurred, and a new building standards regulator would be set up to prevent such issues occurring again.

Neither has happened, nor will the Government commit to a timeline of when they will happen. On so many levels there is a gulf between what Government say can be done, what they pledge to do and reality - a lack of action and accountability.

“The visit of the EU delegation is vital so that they understand the layers and layers of injury that have been inflicted upon our communities due to a proven lack of oversight both at manufacturer and State level. We hope that they will use this opportunity to elevate the issue further within EU to generate greater international awareness and prompt much needed intervention to ensure people in Ireland are protected.”