Council and Department differ over Inishowen mica houses purchase

Donegal County Council and the Department of Housing appear to differ on whether the council informed the department that five houses in Buncrana had tested positive for mica before they were purchased.

The department has said it was not aware that the five houses in the An Crannla estate had mica during the purchasing process.

In answer to a query from Inish Live, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said: “The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage was not aware of issues relating to mica in the properties referred to, when they were acquired by Donegal County Council.”

But Cllr Gerry McMonagle (Sinn Féin), a member of the council’s housing strategic policy committee (SPC), said it his understanding, from a verbal report given to councillors an SPC meeting on February 10, that the department was informed of all the tests that were carried out on the An Crannla houses.

“I would like to hear the council publicly state the sequence of events leading up to the purchase of the five houses in An Crannla in Buncrana,” Cllr McMonagle said.

“I think it is imperative they do that as soon as possible, for the good of the council and so the information can be relayed to the wider public.

Then the public can make up their own minds about the context of buying these houses and how Donegal County Council went about it. Did they follow all of the procedures that had to be followed? The council needs to come clean on that. They need to answer those questions.

“They gave an explanation at the strategic policy committee on housing [on February 10], which was a public meeting. That explanation should now be put in the wider public domain.”

Councillor McMonagle said he would be “very disappointed” if Donegal County Council had not relayed to the Housing Department all of the information they had and needed to give the department before purchasing the houses.
He added: “When you are dealing with public finances, then they must be above reproach and inform the public every step of the way.”

Meanwhile, Donegal County Council is to hold a second plenary meeting to clarify outstanding matters regarding building materials containing deleterious materials and sulphide minerals, in the county.

The meeting, at the request of the Sinn Féin council bloc, follows a similar one on Thursday (February 24), at which Donegal County Council's controversial purchase of five houses in Inishowen was discussed.

Despite repeated press enquiries from Inish Times, which broke the story in June 2021, to both Donegal County Council and the Department of Housing, Saturday's statement was the first time either body has answered the question directly and unequivocally.

Saturday's Housing Department statement continued: “Under the Social Housing Capital Programme, local authorities can acquire properties that they themselves identify as suitable, value for money and compliant with building regulations.”

Donegal County Council's purchase of the five mica-affected houses in Buncrana is now the subject of an external, independent review. The council’s cathaoirleach, Cllr Jack Murray, said he has sent a file from Cllr Frank McBrearty on the purchases to gardaí.

However, Donegal County Council has not, as yet, indicated publicly what organisation will be carrying out the review.

The houses in An Crannla in Buncrana, were bought for €600,000 at the beginning of 2021 from developer Ronald McGrory.
The refurbishment cost of the houses was €68,650 and the fees for the purchase amounted to €12,000. The total amount of €680,650 was provided to Donegal County Council by the Department of Housing.

In addition, Donegal County Council had previously leased the five houses for 10 years at a cost of €307,000 and, when that lease expired, the council rented the houses at a cost of €33,000.

In total, the council spent €1,020,650 on five properties, which it may now have to demolish and rebuild.

It still remains unclear whether or not Donegal County Council withheld crucial information from its solicitors, regarding the five properties.

Inish Times has previously reported Donegal County Council engaged Fastnet Analytical Limited to carry out a petrographic assessment of representative samples of blocks extracted from two of the five houses.

On November 9, 2019, the test suite A results on 4, An Crannla, highlighted the presence of probable free mica in fines with associated freeze-thaw risk if saturated, as a potential risk.

On November 10, 2019, the test suite A results on 5, An Crannla, highlighted the presence of probable free mica in fines with associated freeze-thaw risk if saturated, as a potential risk. In addition, the test suite B: X-Ray diffraction analysis of this house confirmed the tested blocks contained deleterious materials, 18.4% muscovite mica and 0.6% pyrite.

Donegal County Council knew in early November 2019 the properties in An Crannla contained mica. It is unclear whether or not it was communicated to the council's solicitors.

An email from Donegal County Council dated Tuesday, November 17, 2020, to two members of staff at VP Mullin Solicitors stated: “Please see below responses to the attached queries dated November 3, 2020.”

Referencing query number 3, the detailed structural survey, the email made no mention of the area housing engineer's reference to the fact the properties contained mica.

It said: “The council's engineer has carried out a visual assessment of the property, prior to the completion of the submitted acquisition form dated February 4, 2020.

“The engineer also asked that the vendor carry out tests on blockwork and Fastnet Analytical Limited tested the blockwork.
The report noted that whilst the sample blocks appeared visually sound, some level of cracking was noted and there is a potential risk of further degradation with freeze/thaw action. It was also noted that the sample blocks have not deteriorated significantly.

“The council's engineer recently carried out a further visual assessment of the properties and found the position remains constant

“Where the housing engineer identifies any concerns in relation to the mechanical and electrical system of the property, the engineer will make budgetary provision for any improvement works/repairs to be undertaken by the council to ensure that the property is at a required standard in advance of letting.”

The area housing engineer's email of Monday, November 9, 2020 was also attached to this email to VP Mullin Solicitors.

The attachment was identical to the original [above] except for the fact the area housing engineer's reply to query number 3 was omitted and the above answer was inserted.

Inish Live understands this reply was not written by the area housing engineer who wrote the original email.

Inish Live also asked Donegal County Council for a comment on the Housing Department's assertion it was not told about the mica in the An Crannla houses during the purchase process. At the time of going to press, no response had been received.