Mica and the fight for 100% redress
by Kiran Emrich
Article originally published in Issue 6 of Rupture, Ireland’s eco-socialist quarterly, buy the print issue:
The mica scandal has affected thousands of homes and public buildings, mainly in county Donegal but also in counties Sligo, Mayo and Clare and possibly beyond, in an ongoing and developing crisis. The scandal exposes the lack of enforcement of regulations in the construction industry in Ireland and the complete absence of political will to address it by government.
The boom years
The crisis has its origins in the Celtic Tiger years when light touch regulation and increasing wealth fuelled a building boom across the country. Donegal towns such as Letterkenny and Buncrana were among the fastest growing in Europe as builders built dozens of new housing estates to cater for growing populations.[1] Migration from rural areas, people moving out of cities and immigrants moving in to fill the jobs that were being created in the healthcare, retail, pharma and IT sectors generated demand for housing in these towns that developers were happy to exploit. Letterkenny has tripled in size in the last twenty years, while many smaller towns and communities around Letterkenny and Inishowen also saw significant construction. While these areas have seen a proliferation of housing and retail, public services fell behind. There is a lack of public transport, schools are overcrowded and relying on dilapidated facilities, water services are poor and health services are understaffed and under-resourced. A lack of social and student housing in Donegal is also leading to a growing housing crisis in the county, the difficulty of Letterkenny IT students to find accomodation highlighting that Ireland’s student housing crisis is not just an issue in the cities.[2]
““The crisis has its origins in the Celtic Tiger years when light-touch regulation and increasing wealth fuelled a building boom across the country.””
Many of the houses that were built during the boom years between 1997 and 2009 are now exhibiting signs of mica. Failure to enforce building regulations and the lack of proper planning are issues that have affected the housing situation throughout Ireland. While the aforementioned problems of lack of public services are common throughout the country, the issues have become particularly acute in Donegal and other areas affected by mica which are geographically isolated and neglected by central government.
Mica and pyrite
Mica is a common substance found naturally in many igneous and metamorphic rock types and has many practical uses. However, when used in bricks or building materials it can crystallise and cause bricks to split and crumble, as is being seen now. Under the Building Control Act 1990, builders and developers have a duty to check that the materials they are using are fit for purpose. Clearly these regulations weren’t being adhered to by the construction industry or inspected by government authorities.
Physical issues with housing built during the boom period have emerged over the years. In 2007, pyrite was found to have contaminated building blocks in new housing developments across north Dublin. Then Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Green Party leader John Gormley, stated in the Dáil in September 2007 that a letter had gone out to all local authorities around the country to highlight the pyrite issue, which requested cooperation in the enforcement of relevant regulations. If such enforcement had been carried out at the time, the mica issue could have been noticed and dealt with appropriately. But while the pyrite issue in north Dublin was eventually dealt with, with homes being rebuilt and householders compensated, building regulations continued to be unenforced around the country.
““Inaction has led to the crisis developing to such a scale that houses are now literally crumbling around their residents.””
While it is only this year that the mica issue has gained national attention through a series of large protests both in Donegal and Dublin, it is an issue that has been known about in affected areas for many years but was largely ignored by politicians and the media. This inaction has led to the crisis developing to such a scale that houses are now literally crumbling around their residents.
Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien, the current Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, represents the Dublin Fingal constituency most affected by the pyrite scandal and spoke about it in the Seanad in 2012 during his time as a senator. At the time he demanded immediate action and financial redress for affected householders but he has been very slow to deal with the mica crisis now that he is Housing Minister.
Government inaction
At the start of October, Darragh O’Brien promised that details on a revised redress scheme would be released within a couple of weeks.[3] The new scheme is not now expected to be brought to cabinet until 9 December for ratification before being made public. The Department of Housing estimates that the total cost of the redress scheme could reach €3.2 billion while other estimates reach €5 billion.
““The householders are not to blame for the crisis - they have been failed by a disgracefully lax enforcement of planning regulations and ignored by successive governments.””
Politicians, media commentators and civil servants all quibble over the potential cost of a full redress scheme which would cover the full cost of the rebuild of affected houses. Arguments over who should pay and how it should be paid for dominate the national coverage of the scandal while ignoring the reality of the situation for householders. The householders are not to blame for the crisis - they have been failed by a disgracefully lax enforcement of planning regulations and ignored by successive governments.
Indeed, the contempt the government has shown for people and families affected by mica has been typified by the attitude of officials in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Principal Officer Paul Benson mistakenly sent an email to mica redress campaigners saying affected householders just wanted to cause a scene.[4]
Meanwhile successive Ministers for Housing have been sitting on a report into alleged planning corruption in Donegal for over four years which could shed some light on the mica crisis. Media reports suggest that when the report is finally published it will be heavily redacted in what will likely be a cover-up to protect developers and politicians.[5]
The fight for redress
Opponents of full redress like to point out that some of the houses affected are very large and argue that householders should shoulder some financial burden for the rebuild. However most of the affected houses are not so-called McMansions. Many housing estates, particularly in Letterkenny and Buncrana, have been affected, and typically consist of the average 3-4 bedroom house. If a rebuild will cost €100,000, a 90% redress scheme would mean a householder having to fork out €10,000 which would price many householders out of participating - and many rebuilds will cost a lot more than that. A redress scheme that does not cover the full 100% would favour better off homeowners who have the funds to cover the remaining cost. Campaigners are demanding 100% redress because nobody should be left behind. Many householders have put all their savings into buying or building the house in the first place - they shouldn’t then be punished if for reasons beyond their control the house needs to be rebuilt.
While attention has understandably focused on private houses, social housing and a number of public buildings including a school, a hospital and a library are also believed to be affected and will have to be rebuilt.[6]
According to the latest reports at the time of writing, the new government redress scheme will offer 100% but will be capped at €420,000. The scheme will be discussed at cabinet and could include a levy on the construction industry to contribute towards the cost which is estimated at over €2.2bn.[7] Making the construction industry contribute to the scheme is a welcome step although there should be no cap on redress. Holiday homes will be excluded from the scheme unless the owners agree to rent out the homes for long term rental for a number of years. This could be a positive step as it could help deal with the blight of empty holiday homes that has affected many parts of rural Donegal. Holiday homes have driven up house prices in many areas of Donegal, reducing the prevalence of Irish usage in Gaeltacht communities as locals are priced out.
Broader aspects of the mica crisis
““Donegal and Mayo have seen rents increase by 19.7% and 20.1% respectively in the past year, three times higher than the average figure nationally.””
An aspect of the mica crisis that has largely been ignored is the effect it’s having on the wider housing crisis in Ireland. When the mica redress scheme is implemented and rebuilding begins, householders will need to be temporarily rehoused during the rebuilding process - but with such a shortage of housing around the country, where will these families go? Rental prices in affected areas, in common with the rest of the country, have been rising at an exponential rate in recent years. The Covid pandemic, which has seen people moving out of Dublin and other cities in search of cheaper housing while working from home, has further pushed up rental prices in smaller towns and rural areas. Donegal and Mayo have seen rents increase by 19.7% and 20.1% respectively in the past year, three times higher than the average figure nationally.[8] The government must introduce rent controls to ensure that landlords cannot exploit the mica crisis to increase their profits.
The mica crisis is also having a dramatic effect on the housing market with serious long-term consequences, causing a house price crash in Donegal and other affected areas and creating a buyers’ market. But with so many houses affected, or merely suspected of being affected by mica, banks have taken to blacklisting whole estates in affected areas. This means they will not give mortgages to potential buyers, preventing first time buyers and working-class people from buying houses.
Instead, investment funds who have the cash to buy outright are taking advantage of the low prices to buy up houses around the country. They will exploit the increased demand for rental properties caused by the rebuilding process by raising rents to further push Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Clare in the direction of other counties where rents are becoming completely unaffordable. By taking these houses off the market, and raising rents, they will price people out of ever being able to buy a house.
Solutions to the crisis
When it comes to funding the redress scheme, where the money should come from should be obvious. Many of the builders and supply companies who supplied and used the mica infected materials are still in business and have paid nothing in compensation for the crisis. Such companies should be forced to contribute financially to the redress scheme or have their assets seized.
Going forward, regulations of every aspect of the building process need to be strengthened and actually enforced. Donegal County Council have moved recently to serve Cassidy Brothers with a planning enforcement order to close down a concrete batching plant in Cranford, while three of the company’s sites are under investigation for possible planning permission breaches.[9]
While €3.2 billion (or €5 billion) seems like a lot of money, there is enormous wealth in Ireland - the government should introduce higher taxes on wealth and high incomes and corporations should be made to pay their fair share of tax to fund essential schemes like mica redress. Ireland has one of the lowest corporation tax rates in Europe at 12.5% and many large corporations pay far less due to various tax breaks and exemptions.
Alongside this, the government should establish a national public building company to build and reconstruct houses and public buildings throughout the country rather than relying on private companies to do so. This will ensure that they are built to address the needs of society rather than for profit generation. There is a serious housing crisis around the country with a drastic shortage of social housing. Irish governments have shown in the past that they can build houses on a large scale when the need is there, as instanced by the large-scale construction of council housing in the first half of the twentieth-century - we need to repeat that to address the crisis today. By ensuring that houses are built based on need rather than profit, the government can reduce the costs of the mica redress scheme. A state building company should rebuild the mica affected houses in a better, more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. This can include cleaner building materials, more effective insulation to reduce reliance on heating and measures to reduce water usage and waste, parallelling efforts nationwide to retrofit houses to make them more environmentally friendly as a necessary step in reducing Ireland's carbon emissions and environmental damage. To do this without inflicting exorbitant costs on householders will require a state-run building company that is funded through central taxation and is not geared towards making profit.
100% redress - nothing less!
The first and clearest demand is 100% redress as anything less would be unfair and discriminate against the less well off. The government needs to move away from subsidising private developers and builders by establishing a state construction company. A state company should have government oversight to ensure that workers are being paid properly with decent working conditions and that all regulations are complied with.
Finally, the government must pursue all avenues to reclaim funds from private companies involved in building the mica affected buildings. They must investigate the operations of all companies involved in the scandal. Wealthy developers and builders must not be allowed to escape their responsibility for this crisis.
Kiran Emrich is a Galway-based ecosocialist activist and member of People Before Profit and the Socialist Workers’ Network originally from Letterkenny, County Donegal.
Notes
1. Eddie Cassidy, ‘Fastest growing European town gets keys to city’, Irish Examiner, 29 November 2002, https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-10070232.html
2. Chris McNulty, ‘Accommodation Crisis: LYIT Students Union doing all we can to address issue’, Donegal Daily, 10 September 2021, Accommodation crisis: LYIT Students’ Union ‘doing all we can’ to address issue – Donegal Daily
3. Paul Hosford, ‘New mica redress scheme to come before cabinet within two weeks’, Irish Examiner, 11 October 2021, https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-40718226.html
4. Rodney Edwards, ‘Department of Housing official said mica victims just want to cause a scene’, Sunday Independent, 14 November 2021, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/department-of-housing-official-said-mica-victim-just-wants-to-cause-a-scene-41049815.html
5. Paul Hosford, ‘Department has no timeline for publication of report into alleged planning corruption’, Irish Examiner, 10 August 2021, https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-40355834.html
6. Rodney Edwards, ‘Mica controversy: ‘We were told it was best to say nothing’’, Irish Independent, 6 June 2021, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/mica-controversy-we-were-toldit-was-best-tosay-nothing-40506620.html
7. Rodney Edwards, ‘Mica compensation capped at €420k a home in €2.2bn plan’, Sunday Independent, 28 November 2021, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/revealed-mica-compensation-capped-at-420k-a-home-in-22bn-plan-41095896.html
8. Ronan Lyons, ‘Daft Rental Price Report 2021 Q3’, 10 November 2021, Irish Rental Report Q3 2021 | Daft.ie
9. ‘Breaking: Cassidy Brothers ordered to shut down concrete plant’, Donegal Daily, 29 October 2021, https://www.donegaldaily.com/2021/10/29/breaking-cassidy-brothers-ordered-to-shut-down-concrete-plant/