Mica cap could top €500,000 in two years

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has welcomed the start of the enhanced mica redress scheme, applications for which opened yesterday, a week after the long-awaited regulations that underpin the scheme were eventually published.

Minister McConalogue said the €420,000 cap on remediation costs, which has been widely criticised by campaigners and opposition politicians for excluding many larger homes, can be increased up to 10 per cent a year and could top €500,000 by 2025.

“I’d have liked it to be higher than the €420,000, and obviously it is an issue for anyone whose house is bigger.”

“But the legislation does have the capacity to increase the cap by up to 10 per cent every year for three years. So, potentially, €420,000 could go to €462,000 and then over €500,000 in two years’ time.”

“That’s a decision the Government will have to make, and it’s not a guarantee, but the legislation does allow for it to be increased.”

He said the immediate priority is to get the larger grant paid to homes that are currently under construction, and for Donegal County Council and the Housing Agency to implement the scheme by processing new applications and transferring the approximately 1,300 applications already received into the enhanced scheme.

Read more on the Enhanced Redress Scheme is a special report in this week’s Inishowen Independent.