An Examination of Governance Failure by the Irish State: The critical case of the ‘Mica’/Defective Blocks issue

Abstract

This paper examines how governance failure on behalf of the Irish Government led to the ‘mica’/defective blocks catastrophe. It will examine the governance process adopted by the Irish state in the ‘mica’ case and review the recommendations made in 2012 (Pyrite Panel, 2012) following a similar crisis – ‘pyrite’ and whether the Irish Government’s response to these recommendations were acted upon in a timely manner. It will further examine whether the government’s action/inaction in relation to these recommendations could have contributed to the scale of this mica crisis and whether it may have exacerbated this crisis further. This paper will also establish the key lessons to be learnt from this crisis. The findings of this research will be of value to Public Sector organisations /Government departments when considering governance approaches at a local and a national level that should be in place, in particular when permitting concrete products to be placed on to the marketplace. Finally, it will be of interest to other researchers/ academics interested in Governance at both an organisational and at a governmental level.