GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN accused of being selective in accepting only some of the Attorney General’s advice on the issue of defective blocks.

During Leaders’ Questions, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty also said there was a concerted effort at the “very heart of Government” to limit financial support by homeowners affected by defective blocks.

Defective building blocks containing excessive deposits of the minerals mica and pyrite have caused thousands of properties to crack and crumble across the country.

The government’s Defective Concrete Blocks scheme offers grants of up to €420,000 euros per dwelling to repair or rebuild them.

Homes in counties Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo are covered under the scheme, with Sligo due to be added.

Doherty highlighted that that The Ditch publication had published the legal advice from the Attorney General Paul Gallagher on the Mica scheme, which he said reveals a “concerted effort at the very heart of Government to block and limit financial support” for affected homeowners.

“The contents of the Attorney General’s letter to the Minister for Housing are shocking,” he said.

“The unwavering focus on ways to reduce the number of applicants to the Redress Scheme and it shows he talked about that any improvements would likely increase the number of applicants to the scheme – an insinuation that affected homeowners would, in the Attorney General’s words, ‘pitch their claims at the most generous basis that could be credibly be advanced’.”

Advised to take urgent action

Doherty asked the Tánaiste why the government did not heed the advice from the AG, whose advice said it was important to urgently engage with local solicitors “to pursue the wrongdoers”.

“In his advice, he mentioned quarries and block manufacturers. He said that there was considerable urgency with this,” Doherty said, stating that the AG also said that even if a company was going into liquidation they could still be pursued and a claim made against their insurance.

He asked Martin why those firms were not pursued, and was critical of the Tánaiste when the question went unanswered.

“Your government has failed homeowners affected by the defective concrete block scandal. The financial distress but also the mental anguish that they face each and every day is proof of that failure,” Doherty told the Tánaiste.

“The scheme failed to provide 100% redress as homeowners and their families face financial stress, they face mental anguish while they watch their homes crumble right around them.

“Children are forced to sleep in bedrooms with crumbling walls. Families are forced to live in unsafe conditions, and homeowners are facing massive shortfalls to rebuild their homes and their lives,” said Doherty.

The Tanaiste Micheal Martin said he “disagrees fundamentally” with Doherty’s comments and outlined how the scheme was expanded to include more homeowners. 

“No one is being locked out of the scheme,” he said.

He rejected allegations of cost-limiting by saying the estimated costs of the scheme are €2.3 billion euros, which he described as a “very significant response”.

Yesterday when asked about the AG’s advice being published, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the AG gives advice on the legal realities, “and they give advice on the impact of different decisions”.

However, he added: “Politicians decide. And that’s important… we make the decision.”