Taoiseach Micheál Martin has acknowledged that the Government’s scheme to compensate those whose houses have been affected by damaged blocks could exceed the highest current estimate of €3.65 billion, but he said the scheme was necessary to ensure people had proper homes to live in.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Martin said the most important step now was for the National Housing Agency and local authorities to start the rollout of the scheme to allow work to begin on demolishing and reconstructing those homes most badly affected by the presence of mica and pyrite in their blocks.
“Government believes the fundamental objective is to enable people to have homes that they can live in and, from a humane perspective, I think it’s important to intervene and to provide people with basic shelter in terms of the restoration of their homes and the rebuilding of their homes,” Mr Martin said.
He acknowledged there is no definitive estimate of how long it might be before problems emerge, which also made it difficult to come up with a definitive figure as to the overall cost, but the most important step now was to start work on making houses safe or providing new houses.
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According to Cabinet sources, the new grant scheme proposed by the Government could see sums from €2.7 billion up to €3.65 billion being paid out in grants, depending on construction inflation, to affected homeowners in Donegal, Mayo, Clare, Sligo, Limerick and Tipperary.
However, the Cabinet was told that there was no certainty over the number of homes affected and the problem could extend beyond those counties scheduled to qualify for the scheme as it could take years for the problem to manifest itself, so it is not possible to know the final cost to the exchequer.
Asked about the scheme after delivering the opening address at a conference on the Civil War at University College Cork, Mr Martin stoutly defended the scheme, saying it needs to be rolled out quickly as people are in difficult circumstances with fissures and cracks appearing in some homes.
“The broad outline of the scheme has been published, what really is important now is that we would get going and start work, particularly on the houses that are most damaged, and I’ve met some people whose houses are significantly damaged,” Mr Martin said.
“We know there are about 300 houses [which] have already been identified for demolition and reconstruction so I think we should move ahead now with the National Housing Agency and the local authorities and get the worst houses reconstructed and developed.
Mr Martin said that he expected the picture will become clearer as work starts on demolition and reconstruction or on remediation, but he said it appeared to him that some of the calculations as to the number of houses affected were “loose enough”.
“I think the focus should be on those most affected right now, let’s get on with it right now... because we can go on and on and the campaign can go on and on but, meanwhile, there are people living in houses right now where there are big cracks and fissures through the walls.
Asked if the State should pick up the tab via the grant scheme for some very large and luxurious houses which cost a lot more than the standard home when they too are affected by defective blocks, Mr Martin suggested the number of such houses was smaller than might have been thought.
“Some of them are quite large but to be fair, they are in the minority, and I think we have to look at this in the round –what’s important here is that a lot of trauma and insecurity has developed in families who are living in houses that are no longer, in some cases, fit for purpose.
“If anything happens in 10 or 15 or 20 years, the State will intervene again, and that guarantee has been given and rents supports have been provided and up-front engineering costs have been provided, so really the wherewithal is there for us collectively to move on and get work started.”
However, Mr Martin accepted that irrespective of what the final compensation figure is finalised at, the scheme is going to have an impact on Government coffers and will have repercussions for how much money the Government can provide to fund a series of other important services.
“It is State expenditure but it’s necessary expenditure – Government has decided to do it in addition to a whole range of other expenditures we have to consider – housing, social protection, education, health, child care and all of those issues we will be dealing with in the forthcoming budget.”
