Mica Action Group holding public meetings on enhanced defective blocks scheme

A series of public meetings are taking place around the county over the coming weeks to give affected homeowners information about the enhanced defective blocks scheme.
The meetings are being hosted by the Mica Action Group (Mag) and are aimed at bringing homeowners up to date on the new defective concrete block remediation scheme which opened to applications at the beginning of July.
The first meeting takes place at the Malin Head Community Centre on Monday, September 11 at 7pm. All the meetings will include speakers from the Redress Focus Groups who will address issues around banking and insurance.
The meetings will continue on Tuesday, September 19 at 7pm in the Ray Community Centre; Thursday, September 28 at 7pm in the Greencastle Community Centre; Monday, October 2 at 7pm in Jackson’s Hotel in Ballybofey; Tuesday, October 10 at 7pm in the Station House Hotel in Letterkenny and Monday, October 16 at 7pm in the Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana.
Lisa Hone, chair of the Mica Action Group, said the meetings follow the “huge response” to an information evening held in Burt in July.

Public ‘misled’ over ‘ill conceived and badly designed levy’ - Pearse Doherty

Donegal TD Pearse Doherty has hit out at Defective Concrete Products Levy, which is set to come into effect on Friday.

The group felt that it was vital to follow up with further opportunities for all impacted homeowners to attend an information meeting locally.
“Due to the concerns that persist with regard to the science, finance, exclusions and support for impacted homeowners, which we clearly set out in our statement to the Oireachtas Housing Committee on July 13, 2023, Mag does not endorse the scheme as it stands,” she said.
Ms Hone said the scheme is the only option homeowners have, and “we acknowledge the many enquiries from homeowners requesting information on how it works”.
“Following a brief presentation we will be happy to take questions from homeowners and hope that the meetings will prove useful, and informative and will also explain to people how they can help themselves, their wider community and the campaign by taking some practical actions.”
Ali Farren, manager of the Malin Head Community Association, said the association would like to see as many people as possible attend the event due to the extent of the defective blocks crisis in the area.
“From a Malin Head community point of view, a large amount of the homes in this area are affected, so we want to encourage people to come out and see if the scheme will work for them or how it will work for them.
“There are a lot of people out there who don’t know how the scheme is working, and this is an ideal opportunity to come along and hear from the people who have been at the coalface of this scheme.”