A number of Donegal County Councillors have called for the new MICA committee to meet as homeowners’ frustrations grow over delays in the redress scheme.
Councillors established a new committee in June to focus on the issue of MICA.
However, the committee has yet to meet, and with a government budget on the way and no details of a redress scheme yet, the urgency of the matter has escalated.
A €20million allocation was announced by the government in May for the repair of Donegal homes affected by defective blocks. The County Council Housing Department says it has been proactive in advancing the details of the scheme and a meeting has been scheduled on October. It is hoped that a conclusion will be reached soon.
Inishowen Cllr Martin McDermott told the council today that people are growing more frustrated as the day goes by.
Cllr Albert Doherty questioned if a second tranche of funding would be announced in Budget 2020, while Cllr Gerry McMonagle commented that Fianna Fáil party members should put pressure on the government to advance the process.
The situation, Cllr McMonagle said, is that “there are people with their houses crumbling down around them.” While money has been allocated to fix the problems, Cllr McMonagle pointed out that nothing has been done so far.
Cllr Michael McBride added that the €20million allocated is a “drop in the bucket” in terms of what will be needed to repair the thousands of affected homes.