The mica controversy saw thousands of homes damaged by large cracks as a result of defective concrete blocks. File photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times
The mica controversy saw thousands of homes, mainly in the northwest of the country in counties such as Donegal and Mayo, damaged by large cracks as a result of defective concrete blocks. Dolors Montserrat, a Spanish MEP who chairs the EU petitions committee, told a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday that the group had met many homeowners who expressed “major concerns” with the scheme.
Under the current redress scheme homeowners had to “advance” some of the costs, which she said posed a challenge to elderly people. “We don’t want the families to carry on their backs the advance finance,” she said. People whose homes were crumbling as a result of mica in the blockwork had faced “severe health, financial and social consequences,” she said.