Mica crisis latest: EC targets Irish government over its failure to regulate construction products

By Chris Wheal

August 12, 2024

European Commission enforcement action targets Ireland's lax construction product regulation

The ongoing so-called Mica crisis that affected thousands of new-build homes has taken a new turn, with the European Commission giving the Irish government a deadline to fix its construction product regulation and inspection regime.

The Commission has asked Ireland “to comply with EU rules on construction products” in what is called an “infringement procedure”. The note accusing the Irish government of failing to check product standards until after buildings were completed – against EU rules –and risking the circulation of unsafe products throughout the EU.

The Commission describes its procedure as its way of getting states to comply with the rules. “The European Commission pursues legal action against member states for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. These decisions… aim to ensure the proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses,” the Commission says.

Ireland’s failings

On Ireland specifically, it says: “Today, the European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure against Ireland – INFR(2024)4003 – for not carrying out market surveillance as required by the Construction Products Regulation (Regulation (EU) 305/2011). 

“The Construction Products Regulation requires authorities to monitor the manufacturing and placing on the market of construction products before they are used. According to the Commission's findings, the Irish authorities limited their monitoring activities to finished buildings or finalised civil engineering projects. 

“The limitation of market surveillance activities to on-site measures endangers the free circulation of safe construction products in the Union. Due to defective construction products, several thousand houses in Ireland suffered very serious damage. 

“The Commission is therefore sending a letter of formal notice to Ireland, which now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.”

Excessive mica and pyrite

Originally referred to as the Mica scandal in 2011, it mainly affects homes in County Donegal and County Mayo. However, a Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal expert committee in 2016 concluded it wasn’t just the mica but also pyrite that was causing the blocks to crack. Since then the issue has been known as the defective block crisis.

The report of the expert panel said: “The Donegal and Mayo masonry problems add to the legacy of building failures or severe non-compliance concerns following the downturn in economic and construction activity in 2008, which exposed vulnerabilities in the building control system that was in place at that time.”

A compensation scheme that allowed for the rebuilding of key walls or the complete demolition and rebuilding of homes followed – also criticised by victims.

Government blamed

The expert report firmly blamed government budget restrictions for the lack of product scrutiny. It said: “During the period under consideration, building control authorities did not have the technical resources in-house to test construction products which may have been non-compliant with the requirements of the Construction Products Directive. 

“In this regard, all enforcement activity was (and remains the same today) performed within existing local authority budgets and remained subject to national restrictions on government spending following the downturn in the economy in 2008.”Are construction products properly regulated?