The Government’s Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme needs to be improved, according to a draft report from the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee.
A delegation from the committee travelled to Ireland last year to investigate issues related to Mica, following the submission of a number of petitions received from Ireland.
According to a draft report the delegation found that while the state grant scheme is “very ambitious and comprehensive”, it should be widened and red tape reduced.
It also states that there is a need for a for a “clearer picture when it comes to identifying and holding accountable the persons and entities responsible for this situation”.
Committee members found that the defective block problem had led to “severe health, financial and social consequences” which need to be “urgently tackled”.
Market surveillance was identified as an issue. MEPs on the committee recommended that the “role and capacity” of the National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office be “strengthened, ensuring that it is sufficiently staffed”.
It stated that “market surveillance system in Ireland, both at national and local level, needs to be enhanced, adopting a stance that is proactive and persuasive, rather than reactive”.
No Irish MEPs sit on the petitions committee and they were also precluded from being part of the drafting of this report to ensure fairness in the committee’s findings.
However, all MEPs from Ireland’s Midlands North West accompanied members of the committee when they travelled to Ireland last October.
The findings will now be discussed by the whole petitions committee when it meets in Brussels next Tuesday.
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan MEP said the draft findings have shown that the state “let people down in a manner which is totally unacceptable”.
He added that the Government does not have to wait until the report is finalised, arguing that it should “act now and do what they should have done a long time ago”.
The draft report states that the European Commission should assist the Irish Government and regions where affected buildings are located.
It says that a defective block crisis should not be allowed to occur again in Ireland or any other EU member state.
