A second Defective Concrete Block facilitator has been appointed for Inishowen to help deal with the rising number of homeowners who are requiring assistance with the redress scheme.
Georgina Gallagher joined Inishowen Development Partnership at the end of October as the new Defective Concrete Block Community Facilitator. She is joining Michelle Coyle, who is now well established in the position having joined the company in March 2023.
Featured photo: IDP’s DCB Team: Denise McCool, Team Lead, Rachel Grant, Administrator, Michelle Coyle DCB Facilitator North Inishowen and Georgina Gallagher DCB facilitator South Inishowen.
As DCB facilitator, Michelle has assisted hundreds of families and individuals with defective concrete blocks as they navigate their way through the DCB redress scheme, with around 120 people receiving assistance on a monthly basis.
IDP together with the local development colleagues in DLDC applied to the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, through Donegal County Council for another community facilitator to join their teams.
IDP Team Lead Denise McCool said they were delighted to expand the DCB team with Georgina as the numbers of people requiring assistance with the scheme was growing substantially.
“Last month alone we had 157 people requiring assistance from the DCB facilitators – that shows the level of need and speaks clearly to the support required for homeowners.
“Michelle has been dealing with very high numbers for quite a while, too much for one person to manage and we did not want homeowners on a waiting list,” explained Denise.
“We want to provide homeowners with as much support as possible so having Georgina on board is a great addition to the team.”
Both DCB Facilitators are now available for one-to-one consultations in IDP’s Carndonagh and Buncrana offices on Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment, with Michelle covering North Inishowen and Georgina responsible for South Inishowen.
However they are flexible for people who cannot attend during clinic times, providing telephone appointments and assistance via email where necessary and appointments as needed.
DCB Facilitator Michelle Coyle said she has noticed a large increase in the number of returning clients requesting assistance in progressing to stage two of the application process, such auxiliary and storage grant.
She said there also been a lot of queries regarding the changes to the DCB Enhanced Scheme rates at the end of October.
“For anyone who was given their grant calculation before November 7th 2024 they will have to wait until the new rates are written into legislation in the spring before they can get their final grant amount recalculated,” explained Michelle.
“Anyone who has been given grant approval after this date will be calculated under the new rates.”
As part of their role, both Georgina and Michelle will continue to engage with Donegal County Council’s DCB Council staff on challenges or particular issues for homeowners.
“For example, as more people are getting onto the scheme and receiving their allocation, we are seeing that it is difficult, given the shortage of the tradespeople and architects in the county, for homeowners to have their works completed within the 78 week timeline,” explained Georgina.
Michelle and Georgina, while navigating various challenges with homeowners that are also seeing things progressing within the scheme, and the new rates are good step forward for the new year.
Part of their work also signposts people to other supports and services within the community as they are aware of the stresses facing everyone during this long process.
To book an appointment at the clinic contact the DCB facilitators through IDP on 074 9362218 or michelle@inishowen.ie or Georgina@inishowen.ie for further information.
