Mica nightmare: Redress for Northern Ireland families 'potentially for future Executive to consider'

The Department was responding after the Journal issued a series of questions to various NI departments asking for information around discussions with the government in the Republic around redress, responsibility and what measures had been put in place north of the border to help any affected homeowners in Northern Ireland.

The NI Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs meanwhile said they had ‘no role in the issue’ in response to the same questions.

The questions seeking clarity were submitted after we interviewed one Derry family whose home at Beragh Hill Road has tested positive for excessive mica.

Danny and Kate Rafferty are facing massive costs to repair crumbling outer walls at the home they built back in 2006.

Like thousands of others in Donegal and other parts of the south, the Raffertys were completely unaware that some of the building materials they purchased over the border to build their home were defective. Unlike those in the Republic however, as it stands they do not qualify for the Mica Redress Scheme. Those with a holiday home in Donegal are also barred from the scheme, leaving them too in limbo.

Danny and Mayo native Kate, who live with their 20-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son, then paid for a surveyor who told them on arriving that he knew by looking at their house they had MICA. This was confirmed after five samples were taken out at a cost of around £1,000 for official testing at labs in Cornwall.

The spokesperson for the Department of Finance NI meanwhile said regulation of the standards for construction products falls within Construction Products Regulations, which are a reserved matter and the responsibility of the UK Parliament.

"This is overseen by the Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and not within the Department of Finance Building Regulations,” a DoF spokesperson said.

"OPSS works with local Environmental Health departments in district councils on the oversight and enforcement of Construction Products Regulations here.”

The spokesperson added that “further consideration in regards to a redress scheme would potentially be for a future Executive and Ministers to consider.”

The NI Executive has not sat since February 2022 after the DUP refused to nominate ministers in protest over the NI Protocol. While caretaker Ministers with reduced powers had been in place after the May 2022 Assembly election, this is no longer the case after the deadline for restoring the Executive past last month.

Meanwhile SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MP has called for efforts to establish how many homes in the North are impacted by mica to be ramped up.

Mr Eastwood expressed concern that other homes in border areas could contain the mineral and said proper redress must be provided to those affected.

He said: “We have all seen the devastating impact mica has caused in the South, with families left watching their homes crumble before their very eyes.

“Before we do anything else we need to establish just how many homes in the North are impacted by mica. We have seen the need for robust compensation schemes to be put in place to help people whose homes are damaged and we can only do this when we know the scale of what we’re dealing with.

“This discovery prompts many questions around what checks were put in place on both sides of the border to stop building materials containing mica travelling to the North and what steps, if any, were taken by the Executive when this crisis began unfolding in the South to identify any potential impact here.

“There can be no doubt that anyone found to have mica in their homes must be properly compensated and I would urge the Irish Government to immediately begin liaising with officials in Belfast to discuss putting proper support mechanisms in place. Nobody should have to fight to keep a roof over their heads as a result of mica being discovered at their home.”

It emerged this week that dozens more householders north of the border have now come forward with confirmed or suspected defective blocks.

Affected homeowners have been advised that a multi action High Court case is being funded by Defective Blocks Ireland, a not-for-profit group, set up by businessmen Adrian Sheridan and Shaun Hegarty, both originally from Buncrana.

Anyone wishing to find out more about their own homes and the case has been advised that they can contact legal firm Coleman Legal by emailing [email protected]

A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council has confirmed that it has been contacted ‘by the owner of a property in this Council area that had received test results indicating that following testing of concrete blockwork samples taken from the property that it was affected by excessive MICA contamination’.

The Council said it is not aware of any other affected properties in the city and district ‘despite an extensive desktop exercise and consultation’ in 2018, and that it has no knowledge of any formal redress scheme for owners of properties located in NI that are affected by MICA.

The spokesperson added: “The Council is happy to engage with the property owner to offer whatever advice it can.”

The Council spokesperson added that its Council’s understanding that the relevant UK government department, responsible for the national regulation of construction products is the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).

In response to a query, the Department for Communities, which has responsibility for social homes in Northern Ireland, said: "The Department has not been notified of any social homes affected.”