Hundreds of homes across Donegal could be bought and sold on the open market if the Government finally accepted that the presence of Mica is not the cause of defective concrete homes, a local TD told an Ulster University conference in Burt.
Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn expressed frustration and anger over delays in the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), the Housing Agency and the Department of Housing in accepting the scientific research which has been available for the past three years.
“We need to discuss this now openly,” said the Inishowen politician.
“It is deeply alarming that we have had a NSAI standard under-pinning a scheme which the Government claims will cost billions which we now know is wrong.
“Yet the proposed changes being put forward now continue to include Mica Freeze-Thaw theory, showing a level of resistance to peer-reviewed research and evidence.
“I am not a scientist. As a layperson I trusted what we were being told about Mica. We now know that was nonsense.
“I am very concerned that it’s still being put forward as a theory in the draft new IS465 standards. It doesn’t give up on the freeze-thaw theory and Mica. There is a failure (at Government level) to accept they got it wrong.”
Deputy Mac Lochlainn said there are hundreds of homes in Donegal which have Mica, are in perfect condition and can’t be bought or sold.
Now that the Mica theory has been debunked, the new NSAI standards must remove it from the new IS465 standard.
“I know people who are trapped. Their homes are in perfect condition but because they’ve a test showing they have Mica above 5 per cent they can’t sell – and they can’t buy. This must change to reflect the science.”
The TD thanked Prof Dunlop, Dr Leaman and the other researchers for their world-class research and urged homeowners to respond the NSAI public consultation before May 28.
Deputy Mac Lochlainn was supported at the afternoon session by engineer Charles Byrne.
He says he carries out house surveys and finds many houses in perfect condition with high levels of Mica.
He said the NSAI needs to listen to the latest science and drop Mica completely from the revised IS465 standard.
Mr Byrne said a failure to do so is doing a great disservice to those homeowners who have high levels of Mica but don’t have any pyrrhotite.
He criticised the 5% threshold being used by banks and solicitors, saying this figure was “thrown out at symposium” in Toronto in 2019 and is irrelevant, especially with the new scientific research which has ruled Mica out of causing home damage.
MAG’s Lisa Hone told the conference that the current scheme is obsolete.
She told the conference that homeowners were out of pocket between €20,000 and more than €100,000 when completing their homes, but the Government is still not listening to homeowners.
The issue of homeowners having to finance the initial costs was also addressed by Fianna Fail councillor Martin McDermott who revealed his committee is lobbying the Housing Minister about changing the scheme to change the financing.
Cllr McDermott said he personally was in favour of homeowners getting 10pc of costs up front, rather than at the end of the scheme.
The conference also heard about the mental health impacts of the crisis on homeowners from psychology Professor Karen Kirby and PhD researcher Oisin Keenan.
They found high levels of complex post-traumatic stress disorder among the 400 people in Donegal who took part in the research, similar for some to having survived an earthquake.
Key findings included:
Severe depression: 30.4% of participants which is nearly three times higher than the Irish general population (11.5%).
Severe anxiety: 26.2% of participants which is nearly four times higher than the Irish general population (7.1%).
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: 4.9% of participants, which is twice as high as the Irish general population (2.4%).
Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: 15.5% of participants, which is twice as high as the Irish general population (8.8%).
Suicidal ideation: 35.5% of participants (more than a third) of those surveyed reported suicidal ideation/thoughts, which emerged after their properties were suspected to be affected by defective concrete.
Prof Kirby said: “The ongoing uncertainty surrounding the government’s grant scheme and the delays in financial assistance only exacerbate distress. It is imperative that these systems operate efficiently to prevent further psychological harm.”
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