Why Accountability Matters and Why the State Is Responsible

Many people ask the same questions.

Why aren’t the quarries being held to account?
Why isn’t HomeBond paying?
Why does it feel like ordinary families and the taxpayers are carrying the burden for something they did not cause?

These are fair questions. This blog explains what has happened, what is happening now, and why the State has a responsibility to act fully and without delay.

Thousands of homes across Ireland have suffered serious structural damage because concrete blocks used in their construction were defective.

These blocks should never have been on the market. They failed over time, leaving families in unsafe and unliveable homes.

Homeowners did nothing wrong. They followed the rules, built or bought homes in good faith, and trusted that the materials used met the required standards.

That trust was broken.

The Government promised to pursue the quarries. To date no action is evident.

For ordinary homeowners, holding quarries and manufacturers legally accountable is complex and slow but homeowners are in fact doing what the government has failed to do.

It requires:

• Detailed scientific and engineering evidence
• Proof that standards were breached
• Proof of responsibility under Irish law
• Lengthy court processes

A major High Court case, led by Coleman Legal on behalf of thousands of affected homeowners, is now underway. This case involves multiple parties, including concrete manufacturers, local authorities, and certification bodies. It is progressing through the courts, but it will take time.

Accountability through the courts is happening, but it cannot be used as a reason to delay making people’s homes safe.

Redress and accountability must move forward together, not one instead of the other.

HomeBond is a private warranty provider. Many people assume it should cover this crisis, but in reality, its cover is limited:

• HomeBond excludes liability for certain defective materials
• HomeBond is not a State body and does not provide universal protection

This leaves many families without meaningful warranty support, despite having believed they were protected.

That gap is part of the wider failure.

The most important point is this.

The State has a duty to protect people from unsafe construction products. That duty cannot be outsourced or ignored.

Problems with concrete blocks were reported as far back as 2011. Homeowners, engineers, and scientists raised concerns repeatedly over the following years. Yet:

• Defective blocks continued to be manufactured and sold and may still be reaching the market
• There was no effective market surveillance to stop them
• No decisive action was taken for almost a decade

The first national redress scheme was not introduced until 2020, long after the damage was known.

This was not a sudden or unforeseeable failure. It persisted despite warnings.

Homeowners brought their case to the European Parliament through the PETI Committee. European institutions found serious shortcomings in how Ireland enforced EU construction product laws.

The European Commission has taken formal action against Ireland for failing to carry out proper market surveillance of construction products.

This confirms what affected families already knew. Ireland did not meet its obligations to protect people from unsafe building materials.

Separate legal actions are also being taken against the Irish State, alleging failure to properly implement and enforce EU and Irish law over many years.

These cases are testing whether the State breached its legal duties, not just morally, but in law.

Accountability matters. Justice matters. But families cannot wait years for court cases to conclude before their homes are made safe.

People are living:

• With constant fear about their homes
• Under financial and emotional strain
• With serious impacts on mental and physical health
• In communities where the physical and social fabric is collapsing

That is why 100 percent Redress believes full redress is a State responsibility.

Not because the State poured the concrete, but because the State failed to stop defective products entering the market even when it had the power and responsibility to do so.

Redress alone is not enough.

A public inquiry is needed to answer fundamental questions:

• Who knew about the problem, and when
• Why were warnings not acted on
• Why was self regulation allowed to continue
• Why were defective products not removed from the market sooner
• Why did it take years of campaigning before action was taken

Without answers, the same failures will happen again.

Our position is clear:

• Full, uncapped redress for those impacted by defective concrete
• A public inquiry into regulatory and enforcement failures
• Independent market surveillance of construction products
• Strong enforcement and accountability where standards are breached
• Transparency, so people know the truth and trust can be rebuilt

Redress should never come with silence. Accountability should never be postponed indefinitely.

Those impacted by defective concrete did everything right.

They trusted the system. The system failed them.

When that happens, it is the State’s responsibility to step in fully, fairly, and without delay.

That is what 100% Redress stands for.