The Curse of Defective Concrete (Mica, Pyrrhotite, etc.) in Donegal homes - Read Mod warning Post 1

Any word on the council increasing the HAP allowance for renters?

Rental rates are sure to skyrocket in the county, for everyone rather than just Mica victims. Yet the HAP rates are still pretty low.

I know a family renting a 3 bedroom house in Manor, HAP only covers €470 of a €600 rent. If the landlord starts to jack up the rent over the next year or 2 in line with average rates they will take the hit and they'll struggle even though they're not Mica victims themselves.

Is the rear of the house that gets 'the weather', if you know what I mean? Does the wind and rain mostly hit the rear of the house?

Wasn't there talk about the scheme being stalled again until the summer? I'm fairly sure I heard that clown Hughes say that on Highland.

It hasn't.

I honestly think whatever scheme they come up with will need to be open for decades to come. In the County Clare pyrite facebook group people are posting photos and coring test results from houses built in the 1980s. This is going to go on for a long time. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that this is actually happening.

Clarity is needed on all issues before this goes near legislation. The Clare group are already going legal. They have looked at the carry on in Donegal and have decided they arent even going to entertain having to beg for a scheme for years. Also quite unbelievably the Clare County Council has told them "we dont have this problem in County Clare". Difference is home owners there have more time than a lot of Donegal home owners. There are houses here that need sorted soon or a lot of people are going to be homeless.

Thank you , hadn't heard much about what was going on 👍

Came into Letterkenny from the Glencar side at the weekend, some cracks on those Solomons hill houses

SCSI Recommendation to Minister For Housing on grant aid for rebuild sq foot/metre rates:

The terms of reference for this is 2007 building regulations, no poured foundations included, no interior furniture, carpets, curtains (fair enough imo) and nothing outside the walls of the house (driveways, sheds, boundary walls etc).

Issues raised so far are demolition and disposal costs not included, professional fees not included and why are poured foundations not included? (although some campaigners think this will be included as part of the IS465 review currently ongoing). I read that planning laws will force a rebuild to include up to date regs on energy efficiency etc. if poured founds are removed but dont know if thats true.

Keep in mind this is just an "independent" recommendation from SCSI. What the government will do with it we shall see.

Im still of the opinion home owners shouldn't be left to fight it out with builders on what can and cant be done within a sq foot rate. Inflation is rampant and that pressure should be taken away from home owners. Government should tender the work and manage it themselves. That however doesn't seem to be on anyone's agenda who is involved in negotiations with the government. Arguing for months over things like sq foot rates seems to be the plan for however many years this takes. Its very frustrating.

Yeah Ive probably picked that up wrong. The overall point was if you remove poured foundations you have to rebuild to current energy regulations not the 2007 regs that are costed in this SCSI report. I believe it was posted on the MAG facebook page.

I hope the minister does take these rates on board and adds funds for demolition, disposal, professional fees and poured foundations (or at the very least testing of foundations then replacement if needed) because as it stands (even with these SCSI rates) a lot of people will be left behind.

Current costs would make it unlikely,

If you are already approved for demolition on the old 90/10 scheme (EDIT: or have not been told your application has been suspended until agreement of the Housing Agency's Scheme) you have some chance over the next few years as there are not that many approved (a few hundred houses I believe). If you are not approved for demolition yet you will be relying on the Housing Agency's damage threshold to get demolition in the "enhanced" scheme that hasnt been agreed yet. No-one knows what the criteria for that will be as it is rumoured to be based on a visual inspection. So it's an unknown at the moment. I think its a safe bet it will be much more difficult to get demolition in the Housing Agency's scheme based on the Pyrite Scheme in Leinster. Some home owners are still waiting 10 years for works to commence since they dont satisfy the Housing Agency's scorecard system for approval.

You are not allowed to bring this up on MAGs Facebook page or in the 100% Redress Facebook group though. Your comments will be deleted and you will be blocked/removed. A lot of people who marched in Dublin last year are not happy as they were led to believe holiday homes/rentals would be a deal breaker if not included. They also believe the damage threshold is a scam as it is an attempt to limit demolitions and refuse people entry to the scheme based on a visual inspection as opposed to the private engineer led approval for demolition in the old 90/10 scheme.

The next few months will be interesting. Once this new scheme is legislated it will be very difficult (or at least take more years) to get it changed or "enhanced" again.

Paddy walked out of the Working Group because he could see it was a talking shop. He even said at the time the government were not interested in addressing the scheme properly and he was right. It's been delay tactics and empty promises ever since. The latest SCSI report is crumbs and only just a recommendation to the government. Paddy took awareness of this scandal to a whole new level. He stopped Cassidys from supplying defective blocks for 100s if not 1000s more buildings when he blocked their lorries. He gave people courage and they stood up and protested because of him. No-one can take that from him.

When he walked from the Working Group MAG should have went with him. They let him down. I feel he has has been used politically by MAG / Joe McHugh etc. ever since. I feel for him because he is being asked questions that he cannot answer as the political end of the campaign (MAG) wont/cant get the answers and have banned / blocked anyone else who asks. The government are still taking the p!ss out of everyone, the difference is now people are starting to get angry about it. The so called "enhanced" scheme is not shaping up well. It's a sad situation.

I have no affiliation with anyone. I am just a mica home owner myself. I agree with you the councillor you speak of attacks all round him and is no doubt causing friction but his ongoing legal challenge (via his father) could yet be the only hope to force the government to get serious about this disaster.

Micheál Martin was on Donegal today. He met with MAG at a couples house in Inishowen and then went on to a meeting in the Grainan Hotel with MAG and DCC. Hopefully something starts moving soon.

Hopefully, but the current inflation spiral may well end things for the foreseeable. It’s now unlikely there will be significant rebuilding in the next five years.

No. If you've bought after a certain date (I can't remember when it was), you're not eligible for the scheme.