Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh has confirmed he will ‘consider his position’ within the party if the Mica Action Group is not happy with the new redress scheme for homeowners.

Reports this morning suggest the new scheme will cap the amount of redress on offer for each home at €400,000.

Thousands of homes in Donegal, Mayo and a number of other counties are thought to have been built using defective blocks that are crumbling due to high levels of the mineral mica.

The redress scheme established in January 2020 offers homeowners 90% of the cost of repairs; however, campaign groups are calling for that to be increased to 100%.

A report delivered to Government at the end of September called for the scheme should cover the cost of remediation works, but not the full cost of demolition of homes.

The Housing Minister has been working on an updated scheme in the weeks since and is due to bring the plan to Cabinet in the next two weeks.

Leaving the party

Mica campaigners have warned they will not accept any scheme that doesn’t offer 100% redress for all affected homes and on The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Deputy McHugh said he would be taking his lead from them.

“What I am saying is, I will be considering my position,” he said. “Leo [Varadkar] knows where I stand on this.”

“If the scheme is not accepted by the likes of the campaign group that has been working so hard these last ten years. If they are not happy and if they feel there is not fairness centred in this scheme and it is not workable … if it is not workable, it won’t work for me.

“If they’re not happy, I’m not happy and obviously I have to consider my position then.”

"Very difficult"

He said he spent the day yesterday considering his stance on the matter.

“It is a horrible position to be in, especially for me who has been in the party for 23 years,” he said.

“It is a very difficult thing to contemplate to leave my party but when I weigh it up and measure it against the horribleness that people have to live with in their lives, it is not even in the ha’penny place in terms of what they are going through at the moment.

“So, that is how strongly I feel. This is not a political issue.”

Redress scheme

Deputy McHugh refused to be drawn on exactly what his red lines are regarding the scheme but confirmed he is looking for 100% redress with any cap linked to the square footage of the property.

“The campaign group themselves are under no illusion that this is going to cost money and they know they are not ging to get an open-ended cheque book,” he said.

“When figures are thrown out – a month ago, there was a figure of half a million thrown out, there was figure of €350,000 thrown out, today there is a figure of €400,000 – what does that mean? What is the detail?

“I think the cap itself is not a good instrument here. I think the control mechanism should be put on a square footage basis and that is what is being advocated by the campaign group themselves.”