An expert report for the Government has found that up to 5,700 homes in Donegal and north Mayo have been affected by problems in their concrete blockwork causing buildings to disintegrate and external plastering and rendering to crack.
The dwellings are single storey, dormer and two-storey with both housing estates and one-off rural houses affected.
The report of the Expert Panel on Concrete Blocks found the problems were largely confined to specific regions in both counties.
In Donegal the homes affected are mainly located in the Inishowen and Letterkenny Municipal districts, where the problem is caused by a mineral called muscovite mica in concrete blocks.
In Co Mayo, the problem is caused by pyrite in the concrete blocks and the houses affected are largely concentrated in the northern parts of Ballina and the West Mayo Municipal districts.
According to the report 28 housing estates in Donegal have been affected.
In addition Donegal County Council found that 60% of social houses built in Inishowen between 2000 and 2008, and 23% built in Letterkenny, are suffering structural distress and cracking.
On the basis of these findings the Expert Group said the minimum number of private houses affected in Donegal was 1,200 but that total could be as high as 4,800 homes in the county.
In Co Mayo, seven housing estates with 315 dwellings have been identified with pyrite in their blockwork. Another 30 one-off houses in the county have been similarly affected.
In addition a total of 17 social housing units across three council estates are also affected according to Mayo County Council.
The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal Damien English said he hoped that the publication of the report will assist affected homeowners in finding and acceptable solution and remediation measures for their impacted dwellings.
However, remediation options highlighted in the report involve the demolition of buildings in some cases and the demolition and rebuilding of external walls in others.
Report finds more than 5,000 homes, most in Co Donegal, may be affected by defective building blocks which can cause walls to disintegrate pic.twitter.com/y4SJiWGekq
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 13, 2017
Welcoming the publication of the report today, Minister Joe McHugh said it is important now that a Redress Scheme is put in place for all homeowners in Co Donegal who have suffered as a result of all the deficiencies in our planning and building regulation systems between 2000 and 2006.
He said: "It is clear in the report, that those who bought homes or who build their own homes in this period of time did so without any knowledge whatsoever of the problems ahead and in those circumstances they should have access to a redress scheme"
