Mica redress scheme capped at 420,000 euro per home

By Q Radio News and PA

The government in the Republic has agreed a revised mica redress scheme which will be capped at 420,000 euro per home.

Thousands of homes were built with the defective blocks which is causing them to crumble.

The compensation scheme works on a sliding scale and critics say homeowners will still be out of pocket.

Homeowners will be able to receive 145 euro for the first 1,000 square foot, however, that will then decrease to an amount of around 110 euro per square foot.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said that the government has committed 2.2 billion euro to help homeowners.

Mr O’Brien added:

“I recognise the toll this has taken on homeowners.”

He said that enhanced mental health supports will be provided to families and homeowners.

The Fianna Fáil minister pledged to fast-track legislation through the Oireachtas.

Homeowners will be left with bills of more than 45,000 euro under the new redress scheme, Sinn Féin has claimed.

Pearse Doherty criticised a cap of 145 euro per square foot in the scheme, available only for the first 1,000 square feet, with a sliding scale after that.

He said costs to Donegal County Council under the current scheme have come in at an average of 150 euro per square foot.

“The average size of a mica-affected house in Donegal is 2,300 square feet. With your sliding scale that means that somebody will have to find 45,500 euro themselves to build their house,” he told the Dail.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the methodology was devised by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, which found the annual average to be 138 euro per square foot.

He said there were “economies of scale”, with the methodology chosen so as not to “disadvantage smaller houses, which represent the bulk of the houses covered under this scheme”.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue described the scheme as “really good and really strong”.

The Donegal TD said:

“It will ensure homeowners in Donegal and Mayo will be able to fully remediate their homes."