A large contingency of Mica homeowners will make their way to Dublin this Wednesday on a crucial day for the Defective Blocks Bill.
A protest has been planned outside Leinster House to put the Mica cause front and centre for TDs who will be voting on proposed amendments for the enhanced scheme.
Free buses will be leaving from towns across Inishowen, Manorcunningham and Lifford to bring as many protestors as possible back to the streets of Dublin for the day.
The new Defective Blocks Bill has been sharply criticised by Mica and Pyrite homeowners who are demanding 80 amendments to address its failures. A shortened pre-legislative scrutiny session took place before the Oireachtas housing committee last week. Another fast-tracked two-hour debate will take place within the Dáil’s business committee on Tuesday. There are calls for the meeting to be extended to nine hours, given the scale of the €3.7billion scheme. The Mica Action Group has pointed out that every minute of that meeting equates to €24 million euros of the scheme.
Michael Doherty, group PRO, urged homeowners to travel to Dublin and ensure there is a strong presence outside Leinster House: “Be in Dublin on Wednesday, if you think you are losing a day’s pay, big deal. Think about the 10s of thousands of euros you are going to be losing that is there to grab.
“Be under no illusion, the Minister can do this with the stroke of the pen if he wants but he doesn’t feel he has to, show him different.
“Be there and be counted.”
The Mica Action Group is also turning its focus to Donegal County Councillors with the launch of a campaign to discover their allegiances. On Sunday, all 37 councillors were sent an email by campaigners asking them: do they stand by their people or do they stand by their party? The Mica Action Group has put a deadline of 5pm Tuesday on the email. After this, they will be publishing a poster of all councillors and their responses.
Michael Doherty said the question seeks to find out if councillors are in agreement that amendments need to be granted in order for the scheme to work.
Addressing elected members in a video update, Mr Doherty said: “Thirty-seven of you, you had little or nothing to do so far, now is your time to shine.”
Campaigner Paddy Diver has also called on homeowners to take note of how many councillors are present at the protest on Wednesday. Mr Diver said he will be unable to attend the protest for family reasons outside of his control.
