@Osprey: Oh look,more ordinary people thinking that there is a bottomless pit of taxpayer’s money to pay for everything that we want.Every single day there are calls for this that and the other to be done from high speed rail to housing for everyone that wants one to free crèche’s to free college’s and hundreds of other things that we want to come out of general taxation….ie ,free.

@Osprey: the truth doesn’t exist in Ireland, we have to import it…

@Temp Stuff:
I would like to have a short summary about the responsibilities of everyone involved.
If the the companies providing the mica blocks has gone bust (they did),
there should be insurance.
The insurance is there, but, as far as I know, limited to 10 years – after that you’re on your own.
From my understanding, and that’s where I might be wrong, somehow, someone, has to ensure that there’s no mica in the blocks.
My understanding is – and again I might be wrong – the government put this down to the producers of the blocks, as “self-regulating”.
If this failed = the government failed in it’s regulation = the government has to be responsible.
I’m not a fan of wasting tax money.
But, in the end – if the state, or state institution, fail to do their job,
it’s not the person’s/owners fault.
In the end, it’s the same like the 100′s of cases with fire security issues,
on paper approved by a state employee.

@Wolfgang Bonow: agreed, homebound is limited to 10 yrs

@Wolfgang Bonow: someone somewhere working for the state signed off on all this. That’s the reality. If I’m buying materials off a supplier, those materials are over a certain quality, usually European Standard or EN. Now I don’t have a lab that I can test, so I’m trusting the suppliers, and the suppliers are trusting the manufacturer who is the one responsible for ensuring that standard is met. Now obviously the state has a responsibility to ensure those standards are being kept too. But in this instance the state’s solution was hands off and let them self regulate, which is beyond stupid. The whole point of having regulations is to ensure that manufacturers don’t cut corners or make sub prime products.

@Martin Mongan: and yet we have a load of pro trump/libertarian posters here who would do away with regulation and oversight altogether.

@Wolfgang Bonow: by your logic then, if the government is ultimately responsible because of self regulation in the supply chain…. who then seriously goes to jail?

@John Terry: The problem was caused by business.

The state wants the people, the ordinary taxpayer, to pay for this.

This state always does what it can to protect business at the expense of the people.

What they call capitalism for the people, and socialism for business.

@Wolfgang Bonow: it’s not the lack or regulation or enforcement that caused mica issue….it’s the quarry owners and brick makers

@Wolfgang Bonow: It’s the movement to self-regulation that is the root cause.

When businesses can regulate their own activities, and any meaningful standards impact on profits…

@Martin Mongan: I don’t mean the blocks but some of the materials used. Yes, the manufacturer was at fault as no testing on the block was done as per the building control regs and they prob passed them off as being fit for use too so it’s possibly number of factors. Was the concrete company regulated? Yes, they can say that adequate building control wasn’t in place by the building control section of L.A’s which could be a point, I don’t know – would they have the equipment to do stress tests on aggregates?
All that aside, I still think those people deserve to be looked after – they didn’t expect this to be the outcome of their building a home, for it to literally be crumbling under their feet and uninhabitable. They’re not asking for anything more than the original plan.

@I can see clearly now: The defective materials were quarried here, in Ireland.

The root problem was, and remains, self-regulation.
Self-regulation, where each business regulates itself.
As meeting standards can impact profits, there is a very real incentive to allow standards to slip.
And slip.

Self-regulation of our banks resulted in our banking crisis too.

@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: home insurance before it’s built? Good luck trying to get insurance now lol

@John P Quinn: that’s the trouble with this country, too many people with the begging bowl out

@Rex Tynan: how would you make sure?

@Derek Lyster: always get a reputable builder

@Rex Tynan: but the builder didn’t make the blocks and I assume he didn’t carry out lab tests on them either and they wouldn’t be expected too either. Would you only employ a builder who would test the blocks for mica?

@Derek Lyster: no I wouldn’t, if I had a team of builders, I would expect the foreman to be qualified enough to spot something as basic as substandard blocks

@Derek Lyster: your replying to a person having a conversation with himself. I wouldn’t pay any attention.

@Rex Tynan: you haven’t a clue lad

@Rex Tynan: we already had discussion Murphy and your wrong…why do you persist to agitate?… how wait that’s because your a paid online opretive to cause trouble and division…to try drive people away from the nationalist and anti mass Immigration movement…

@Joe Mc Dermott: I do, now pipe down

@Rex Tynan: Nobody gets their house bricks tested before buying. You seem to be just trying to wind up people with your simple minded replies…… Dzope

@Rex Tynan: yeah ok so, the proper way to test blocks for mica is to carry out a petrography test, will your foreman do that test in the back of his van or is the foreman you hire so good that he can determine whether a block has mica or not just from a visual inspection?
The block manufacturers are to blame here not the end user. No proper regulation = no proper quality standards.

@Rex Tynan:

No the blocks with Micra looked the same as the blocks that did not have Micra. I know a couple who ahs rebuilt their house because of Pyrite, he built the house himself.
All blocks built by the 2main quarries in Donegal and Mayo did not have Pyrite, we built our clubhouse in 2003 with blocks from he Mayo quarry, the clubhouse don’t have Pyrite.

@Martin Mongan: That’s not the way it works in this country.

Even if an ordinary person can progress a case to the courts – an onerous task at the best of times – the builder can simply declare bankruptcy, and then create a new company and carry on.

@Ali123: you could have hired someone with a law degree printed off the internet, and they would win the case. If something is built substandard, or not built to the exact requirements of the drawings, then 1000% the builder is liable for any or all alterations/remedial works. If I put a socket 50mm away from where it is on the drawing then it’s coming out of my pocket to have it moved. Like I said you must have employed the worst solicitor in the country or your just making it up.