Construction BUSINESS

Members of the Mica Action Group gained unanimous support following strong presentations to the European Parliament Petitions Committee today.

Ann Owens and Joseph Morgan spoke in Brussels regarding eight petitions made by Irish homeowners to the EU.

They provided background and evidence of breaches of Irish and EU regulation with regard to the manufacture and supply of defective blocks.

“Government oversight, promiscuity, lack of regulation and enforcement of domestic and EU law had been at the very heart of systemic failure within the construction industry for 35 or more years,” Ms Owens told the committee.

“I cannot understate the impact this scandal has had on the peoples of Donegal and Mayo. It has desecrated families, it has ruined the mental wellbeing of our people and driven many of our people to near despair. Industry has turned its back on us because we are not an insurable peril. 

“Will we be let down by the very state whose constitution declares that the dwelling of a citizen is inviolable?”

Mr Morgan brought the committee’s attention to Irish and EU regulation on construction and planning.

He said the Mica scandal raised significant concerns with planning regulation adherence – “culminating in findings last week that a quarry at the centre of this crisis has never ever had planning permission for the manufacture of concrete block.”

Mr Morgan asked the commission to review the evidence provided by the delegation which points to “light-touch, no-regulation and self-regulation in the construction industry in Ireland”.  He made the case for an official channel of investigation to establish the current levels, or lack thereof, of implementation and enforcement of EU regulation pertaining to the manufacture and use of concrete products.

“We would like mandated enhancements to Irish regulation that will ensure that my children and the children of families in Donegal and Mayo are not back here in 15/20 years explaining to you that their houses are crumbling down around them,” Mr Morgan said.

The committee ruled that the petition would remain open and that correspondence will be made to the Irish government seeking answers on the crisis both locally and nationally.

Irish MEP Billy Kelleher said: “There is no doubt there was weak regulation, there was weak enforcement of regulation and the Irish authorities have to accept that responsibility.”

“The fact that we cannot guarantee in Ireland today that Mica is not still ending up in blocks of concrete for home construction or for agricultural construction or for broader construction is simply a scandal in itself.”

Source: Donegal Daily