‘Long sought after’ support positions for mica homeowners advertised
Two full-time community facilitators will be based in Buncrana and Letterkenny to support and guide homeowners through the application process for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme
Two community facilitators are being recruited to help homeowners in Donegal who are dealing with the defective concrete blocks scheme.
Inishowen Development Partnership (IDP) and Donegal Local Development Company (DLDC) are recruiting two full-time community facilitators for the defective concrete blocks scheme.
One of the one-year posts will be based in Buncrana with the other based in Letterkenny.
The posts are being recruited with support from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The two facilitators will be employed to support and guide homeowners through the application process for the scheme and will also provide help to access support services.
More than 5,000 homeowners in Donegal are believed to be affected by defective concrete blocks.
The latest figures from Donegal County Council show 1,060 applications have been received to the first stage of the redress scheme but just 19 applicants have received full payout.
Some 372 applications have been approved to stage 1 of the three-stage process and 687 are awaiting further information or are being assessed.
Last week mica homeowners held a demonstration outside the headquarters of Donegal County Council in Lifford expressing frustration at the speed of the redress scheme and highlighting the cases of homeowners who need emergency accommodation.
Affected homeowners told the monthly meeting of the council about the emotional and financial stress they and their families are experiencing.
Denise McCool of Inishowen Development Partnership, which provides a range of supports to affected homeowners and their families, said she was delighted at the advertising of the “long sought after” posts but added that “they are not enough”. She said the posts will help guide homeowners through the application process.
“The mica [campaign] leaders have been asking for these facilitator posts for the county to help people through the process,” she said.
“Two posts are not enough and everyone recognises that. But it is a starting point, and it will also highlight what is required to navigate through the whole defective blocks scheme. They will be challenging posts because of the demand that will be expected of them.”