Kate and Danny Rafferty’s Derry home affected by mica scandal
It is in response to a Notice of Motion by Elected Members at a recent Full Council meeting.
At that meeeting, councillors voted in favour of a Notice of Motion calling on Council to – “recognise the ongoing problem regarding MICA and the potential problems associated with this issue and calls on Council to assist by quantifying the number of our residents whose homes are affected by this issue and to explore the need to further expand governmental compensation schemes to include residents in our city and district.”
As a result of the Notice of Motion, Council has issued a public call out to property owners within the Derry and Strabane District Council area, who have evidence that their residence/dwelling has been impacted by MICA, as certified by an authorised MICA testing organisation, to get in contact with them so they can add their details to the database.
The purpose of this exercise to collate data only as the Council cannot carry out any form of MICA testing on any property within the city and district.
Last November Kate and Danny Rafferty revealed that their Derry home was affected by mica scandal.
This data collection exercise will allow Council to quantify how many homes / properties within the Derry and Strabane District that have already been tested and deemed to be affected by MICA.
Property owners are urged to get in touch by sending their name, details of the affected property and contact number, along with a copy of Certified testing/documented evidence to prove their property has been impacted by MICA to the following bespoke email address – [email protected]
The information will be collated and presented to a further meeting of the Council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee for elected members to review and consider going forward.
The Council has also written to the Department for Communities with regards to compensation and engagement with the Irish Government in relation to this issue.
More information is available on the Council website at: https://www.derrystrabane.com/mica
An expert panel was set up in 2016 in the Republic to investigate problems with homes affected after years of campaigning by affected home owners.
In 2019, the Irish government approved a €20m (£17.2m) repair scheme.
Derry couple Phil and Ellen McDaid outside their crumbling holiday home near Buncrana, Co Donegal. Photo: NorthWest NewsPix
In 2021, a compensation scheme for homeowners affected by crumbling blocks was announced by ministers.
The following year a 10% levy on concrete blocks was announced as part of the Irish government’s budget.
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