Thread by @MicaRedress

The Mica scandal is so big and so difficult to fully understand, particularly for people only now becoming aware of the issue. There is therefore still some confusion about why we NEED government support. A thread 1/

First misconception- builders should cover the cost. Reality is, this is NOT the fault of the builders. They built the houses assuming that the blocks met that standards set out in S.I. No. 288/1949 because the manufacturers certified the blocks saying they met standards 2/

Second Misconception- this is up to the block manufacturer to sort out. Yes this should actually be true. However, in reality, it has been impossible to sanction the manufacturer thus far and nobody has successfully gained recourse from them using legal routes 3/

Third misconception- homeowners are at fault, they should have known the blocks were bad. This is a really bad take. In no way were the blocks visibly defective during building. The defect was latent and only manifested after many freeze/thaw cycles & exposure 2 weather 4/

Fourth misconception- Govt should not need to pay this money: There has already been precedent set in Leinster with the Pyrite Remediation Scheme. Govt admitted fault in regulations in that case which allowed defective materials to be used at no fault of the builders/owners

Negligent regulations are the root cause of the defective blocks also in Donegal/Mayo. Manufacturers were allowed by govt regulations to "self-certify" to say their product met the standard. Had there been tighter regulations, this problem would not exist.

Fifth misconception: the current 90%/10% #micaredress scheme is fair. While even asking homeowners to pay 10% for something that is not their fault is unfair, the reality is that through caps and exclusions the homeowner will pay WAY MORE than 10%...around €100k

6th misconception: insurance should cover this: this would be great if they did. But insurers have washed their hands of this thru loopholes. Technically the defect existed prior to any policy exusting..the defect just didn't manifest untill years later

Some additional info regarding legal proceedings against block supplier provided by @EDoherty_tweets 👇

https://twitter.com/EDoherty_tweets/status/1445511064838234126?t=B94KBUKy82xeZh0b1kFaVw&s=19

7th Misconception: Donegal homes are mansions and are way bigger than the average house down south.

@micaactiongroup bust this myth here 👇

https://twitter.com/micaactiongroup/status/1445483968816549895?t=mP74OdsHddqi-8Rxfs2Evg&s=19