Members of the Mica Action Group are preparing to represent homeowners in a fast-track pre-legislative scrutiny hearing on the Mica scheme this week.
The enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Bill is due to be published by the Cabinet on Tuesday before making its way through Dáil and Seanad debates.
Michael Doherty, PRO of the Mica Action Group, said that homeowners will have their say during three meetings.
“Our goal is to have strong representation,” he said. The priority subject of their discussions, he added, will be “based around the science, fighting the figures given us, and the excluded homes.”
The Mica Action Group continues to battle against the SCSI rates which estimate construction costs per square metre for eight different house types. The rates, Doherty said, are not good enough and do not account for inflation.
“We know things have moved on since,” he said.
Having seen the detail of the enhanced scheme last week, Doherty said one positive development is the removal of the principle of department-owned numbers through the sliding scale.
He added that MAG is not supportive of the penalties of downsizing: “At least allow people to keep the grant they were going to get and get the smaller house put up.”
“It is unbelievable that they would go down a road and actually take grant money off you before you are downsizing.”
The group will also be seeking a written commitment that no Defective Concrete Block home will be left behind, as well as criteria for eligibility for other counties.
The bill, after it’s published on Tuesday, will make its way through the floors of Seanad and Dáil where amendments can be proposed.
Doherty said: “Then it’s down to the government to do the right thing and accept the amendments and change the scheme or not. The bottom line is, if despite our best efforts we can’t change the government, then we change the government.”
