Representatives from the Mica Action Donegal committee are calling on homeowners affected by the block defect to come together and support planned action in Dublin.
The announcement comes after further delays for the redress scheme in Cork on Wednesday when it was due to be presented to the cabinet.
In October 2018, the government approved the scheme for private houses affected by bad blocks containing high levels of the mineral mica in Donegal.
Last month, the Taoiseach put homeowners on alert after indicating there would be a contribution bill towards repairing their homes.
Speaking in the Seanad, Leo Varadkar said: “So anything that we do, whether it is assisting people whose homes are affected by Mica, whether it is assisting people who live in defective apartments buildings, we have to know the costs.
“We have to work out what contribution would come from the taxpayer and what would come from the owners of those homes themselves and we have to consider what other things, as a consequence that, we can’t do.”
However, Joe Morgan, Chairman of the Mica Action Donegal committee, insists enough is enough and has urged those who promised the scheme to bring it forward without delay.
He said: “Wednesday’s delay is just another delay after numerous other setbacks so I don’t think they are hearing the seriousness of the situation at hand here or they are listening because we are as far away you can get on the island from Leinster House.
“The five-thousand plus families that are impacted by this is crazy,” Morgan added. “And I am not the worse affected because I have seen pictures and some of the homes are simply not acceptable for people to be living in and they are still being lived in with children, so it’s unacceptable and it must be brought forward.”
The group is now planning a collective protest in Dublin to show a form of action they believe narrates ‘a more direct approach’.
“We want to bring our visibility directly to Dublin,” he said. “The intent is to go down there as a collective and hopefully meet with the Minister (of State for Housing and Urban Development) outside Leinster House and have some form of a presentation.
“I think Mica Action Group have done a great job getting us this far, but I just feel since last October that the process has stalled and I think now a more direct approach is needed to vocalise the crisis that is going on in the county by going to Dublin and having our voices heard.”
Morgan, who is from Ramelton, has also called on the Mica groups to join forces ahead of the planned action.
When asked whether he would want the Mica Action Group to collaborate on the effort, Morgan said: “Absolutely, I would very much like to be in collaboration with them.
“They are aware that this is something that we have had interest in, but through communication with them I have held off because there were various different milestones coming up that were apparently positive and I made them aware before Wednesday that things had stalled, which they are quite aware of themselves.
“So, my position is I hope they are supportive of this action and will collaborate also.”
A public meeting has now been confirmed for May 29th in the Mount Errigal Hotel in order to ‘validate sentiment and consensus’ across the community for a campaign in Dublin.
With every delay, Morgan said trust in the representatives at the forefront of this campaign is wearing thin.
“The fact that they have pushed this back again is scandalous, families are under threat and they simply do not have the time to wait around for a decision.
“We have had multiple revisions on this timelines and that erodes trusts and what we are asking for is a definitive timeline for the redress scheme.
“And despite numerous promises from politicians and local representatives that date has not arrived.”
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