Mica group warns of action as council raises ‘inappropriate behaviour’

The Mica Action Group has warned Donegal County Council that there will be “more direct action” from homeowners affected by defective concrete blocks if solutions for those living in dangerous homes are not delivered “swiftly and efficiently”.

The warning was made following an increase in tensions between campaigners and the council in recent weeks over the plight of homeowners living in unsafe and unhealthy homes who require emergency accommodation. 

The local authority has in turn complained about “inappropriate behaviour” towards council staff by some homeowners.

Campaigners are also concerned that there is not an adequate plan to accommodate homeowners who will have to leave their homes for remediation and have expressed ongoing frustration at the delays in applications to the redress scheme.

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.

Anger at the council was expressed by around 300 protestors who demonstrated outside it’s headquarters in Lifford last Monday. 

The Department of Housing has requested details from the council of the cases of households who are seeking emergency accommodation and county councillors have sought a meeting with the minister and department officials to discuss the issue.

A council response to concerns raised by campaigns at last Monday’s council meeting was issued on Friday. In the letter, the council called out “inappropriate behaviour” towards staff, including "inappropriate commentary on social media" and the making of "derogatory" and "defamatory" remarks relating to individual staff members.

"This has to stop. This almost led to the county council suspending work on the scheme in mid-2021," the letter from the council’s chief executive John McLaughlin and deputy chief executive Liam Ward said.

The council also said that such behaviour has made it "more difficult" to get staff to transfer to the defective concrete blocks section, adding that it is "anxious to move forward in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation".

The council said it has sought a delegation to meet with the minister for housing to discuss the issue of alternative accommodation and the early release of accommodation grants from the new redress scheme amounting to €20,000, which is a key demand from campaigners.

‘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

In terms of applications, the council said its priority is to review the applications that have been waiting the longest and to prioritise homes that "are badly affected from a safety perspective".

"The overall goal of the council is to see homes repaired. The current scheme, as cumbersome as it is, is a way to get this done for now. This requires a degree of acceptance and working together to get successful outcomes and homes repaired." 

Responding to the council’s letter, Mica Action Group chair Lisa Hone said the local authority had not mentioned “any plans of how the demand for temporary accommodation required for thousands of families over the coming years will be met”.

In a letter issued on Monday, she said that as the council has responsibility for the management of housing and homelessness, “we would have anticipated Donegal County Council would have analysed the information at hand to assess the extent of the scale of the issue and to plan how to manage the future impact.”

Failure to deliver options for the most severely affected will result in families being left in dangerously unsafe and unhealthy homes, she said.

“Given the understandably high levels of emotion and frustration, if people do not see solutions delivered very quickly, it is inevitable that there will be more direct action in an attempt to make themselves heard and understood.”