The Defective Concrete Crisis in Donegal and the West of Ireland: How a Lack of Regulation Caused the Loss of Countless Childhood Homes

Being from Donegal, I felt that with the theme of law and community I had no choice but to discuss and raise awareness of the housing tragedy in Donegal and the west of Ireland, which has caused indescribable upset and distress for many families, mine included. 

Since the early 2010s, a vast number of houses across the west of Ireland have experienced cracking in their external walls, to varying degrees of severity and often spreading to their internal walls, and upon investigation by engineers in 2016 it was discovered that the reason for this issue was due to excessive amounts of ‘deleterious materials’ in the blocks used to build these homes. Although different deleterious materials have been identified in dwellings in the west of Ireland, in Donegal the main mineral causing this damage is muscovite mica, which causes blocks to be crumbly in texture and leads to poor freeze thaw resistance, with harsh winters causing further deterioration. While blocks with 1% mica content or less are generally considered safe, engineers recently identified up to 57% mica content in the blocks of affected Irish houses, posing a serious risk and making many family homes simply inhospitable. Between 5,000 and 10,000 homes across the west of Ireland have been affected, with this figure rising rapidly as more and more homeowners find their houses crumbling around them each year. In Inishowen in particular, it is estimated that ‘every second or third house’ has been affected.  

Although there are varying degrees of remedy available, because of this crisis many families have had to make the impossible decision to demolish entirely and to say goodbye to the homes in which their children have grown up and in which all of their most precious memories reside, through no decision of their own but instead due to insufficient regulation and inspection of materials. As if the demolition itself is not upsetting enough, families are having to downsize their homes and compromise on their wishes because of the limited government funding for their rebuilding costs. Many have aimed to raise awareness and to advocate for further government support surrounding this devastating issue, evoking a delegation from the European Parliament, and currently a group litigation is under way against those who are responsible for this disaster.  

The main party responsible for the mica controversy in Donegal is Cassidy Brothers Concrete Products Ltd, who made and supplied the faulty blocks using unregulated materials that ‘did not meet the standards for safe construction’. Families all over Inishowen bought and built their houses with these blocks, oblivious to their lack of regulation, and many are now seeking compensation for the emotional anguish they have suffered as a result. A group litigation of around 2,000 affected homeowners is currently underway in Donegal with Coleman Legal LLP against Cassidy Brothers Concrete Products Ltd, for producing, manufacturing and supplying blocks that were not ‘fit for purpose’, and against both Donegal County Council and the National Standards Authority of Ireland for their failure to fulfil their duty to perform product checks and to prevent defective products from being circulated, thus allowing the faulty blocks to be produced and distributed to unknowing customers and ultimately causing this epidemic of grief and tragedy. Cassidy Brothers Concrete has exacerbated their situation recently by delaying their delivery of key documents. The party agreed to make discovery of the documents in May 2024 but later applied for a number of extensions, and still have yet to provide these documents, amplifying the frustration experienced by the homeowners involved in the class action.   

After many years of advocating for support and recognition from the government, in January 2020 a grant scheme was finally introduced to financially support those having to demolish and rebuild their homes. This was replaced by an enhanced scheme in June 2023 and, following a further 10% increase in October 2024, homeowners can now receive a maximum of €462,000, with each homeowner’s grant depending on the size of their home and the severity of its damage. However, alongside paying for the demolition and rebuilding of their homes, families are having to pay for temporary accommodation and storage, and funding for these additional expenses is only available where the homeowners have not already reached the cap on the grant. Therefore, this maximum grant amount is still insufficient, leaving many families with no option but to downsize their homes in the rebuild and to pay from €50,000 to upwards of €100,000 on top of their funding to cover the costs of their demolitions and rebuilds. It goes without saying that this is entirely unjust, given that families are having to seek external accommodation solely due to the fault of the producers and suppliers of the blocks and thus should not have to face any financial consequences.  

Many families are being forced to live with family members to avoid extra costs in an already financially challenging situation, meaning that they must endure conditions less-than-ideal where, for example, children are studying for their Leaving Certs or parents are working from home, as is the situation for many. Additionally, those who applied to the scheme prior to the implementation of these newer grant schemes currently cannot automatically avail of the greater funding and remain capped at the prior maximum of €420,000. This retrospective application of the scheme requires amending legislation and, while this was recently approved, the change in government following our recent election has caused this to be delayed, meaning many homeowners remain insufficiently supported. 

There have been a number of protests urging the government to take further steps to improve the redress scheme and to better support struggling families. The Mica Action Group (MAG), a volunteer-led organisation based in Donegal which advocates for 100% redress for those who have been affected by the defective concrete controversy, has been working since 2014 to provide advice and support to those whose homes have been affected. The group led a renowned protest in Dublin in 2021 in order to get their message to the Irish Government and have featured in many similar protests since, relentless in their quest for justice and adequate support. This action was sufficient to attract the attention of the European Parliament and in late October 2023, parliamentary delegates visited Ireland to investigate the issue. Among its numerous recommendations, the mission report found that the scheme must take ‘better account of the financial burden of all the costs,’ including temporary accommodation and storage costs, and that those responsible for the scandal should be held accountable. Additionally, the report acknowledges the ‘severe health, financial and social consequences’ of the scandal, stating that they must be ‘urgently tackled’, and emphasises that more care must be taken in the future to ensure that an issue like this will never occur again, not just in Ireland but in any of the EU Member States. This acknowledgement from the European Parliament highlights the sheer scale of this issue and proves that the scheme needs further adjustment.   

Politicians in Donegal have deemed the cap on funding ‘not fair or equitable’ and are stepping forward and advocating for a 100% redress scheme, which would entail the removal of any cap on funding and instead allow all costs to be covered by the government. In 2023, the Donegal-based 100% Redress Party was formed and, following support from affected homeowners, Charles Ward of the Party was elected to the fourth seat in Donegal in the 2024 General Election. Among their policies, the Party aims to secure a true 100% redress scheme, to address the housing crisis in Ireland, which negatively impacts affected homeowners by reducing the availability of temporary accommodation, and to improve mental and physical health services in Ireland to combat the enormous pain and emotional distress suffered by families as a result of this tragedy. While the success of this Party is certainly a win for affected homeowners, and going forward we must continue to offer our support and to advocate for justice in the hopes that a genuine 100% redress scheme might one day come to fruition, unfortunately no amount of funding can erase the overwhelming grief of losing a family home and we must not let those responsible escape the errors they have made and the damage they have caused.