EU Parliament delegation to travel to Donegal next week to investigate the Defective Concrete crisis

The objective of the delegation is to fact find and form a complete picture of the impact and issues of the Defective Concrete Blocks Crisis, to result in a comprehensive report which can be submitted to the EU Commission.

The international team of MEPs from Spain, Estonia, Latvia and Ireland headed up by Chair Ms. Dolors Monserrat will witness the devastating consequences of the disaster first hand.

Visits to impacted homes, other affected buildings plus an extensive series of discussions and interviews with homeowners, campaigners across affected counties, scientists, engineers, political and administrative representatives will convey the issues, gravity and scale of the crisis from all angles.

Representations to the EU Parliament were spearheaded by campaigner Joe Morgan two years ago in collaboration with petitioning homeowners, University of Ulster researchers Prof. Paul Dunlop and Dr. Eileen Doherty, the Mica Action Group (MAG) and with the support of the Left Group in the EU Parliament.

Following the initial presentations made to the EU Petitions Committee by Joe Morgan and Ann Owens in 2021, MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan then worked with MEP Sira Rego, LEFT group coordinator, to request the Petitions Committee undertake a mission to Donegal to see the devastation for themselves.

With agreement from the other political groups in the EU Parliament, the fact-finding delegation was approved.

Campaigner Joe Morgan states: “The EU Delegation visit to Donegal has been over two years in the making following the initial submission of eight petitions to the EU Parliament.

" In November 2021 we travelled to Brussels where impacted homeowners presented to the EU Petitions Committee. The Committee decided unanimously to leave the Petitions Open for further investigation.

"A visit from an EU delegation is by no means a guarantee. The fact that we have managed to secure the mission is an indication of the seriousness and scale of the Defective Concrete Crisis. It is clearly a concern to legislators that it has been escalated to the highest level of the EU Parliament.

"The visit has been designed to ensure that the EU delegates are left in no doubt of the shattering impact of this catastrophe first hand - not only the destruction of our homes and other affected buildings, but also the emotional, physical and financial damage it has wrought on our communities by being allowed to persist unaddressed for so long.

“The EU delegation are required to write up a comprehensive account of their observations, which can then be submitted to the EU Commission. It is our hope that this report, together with two EU complaints, submitted within the same timeframe, will be enough to spur the EU Commission into discussion with the Irish Government to provide effective remediation to impacted families and ensure this crisis cannot continue to the next generation of Irish citizens hoping to own their own homes.”

Lisa Hone, Chair of MAG states: “Almost two years ago at the end of November 2021, on the very day that campaigning homeowners were at the EU in Brussels representing their impacted community, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien announced he would appoint a Senior Counsel to review how the Defective Concrete Crisis occurred, and a new building standards regulator would be set up to prevent such issues occurring again. Neither has happened, nor will the Government commit to a timeline of when they will happen.”

The Mica Action Group Chairperson Lisa Hone also outlined how the visit of the EU delegation ‘is vital so that they understand the layers and layers of injury that have been inflicted upon our communities’.

"We hope that they will use this opportunity to elevate the issue further within EU to generate greater international awareness and prompt much needed intervention to ensure people in Ireland are protected.”