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MAG plan to field election
candidate
31.08.18
THE Mica Action Group (MAG)
have announced that they plan to field an
independent candidate for any upcoming elections if
there fails to be a funding allocation in the
upcoming October 2018 budget.
Ann Owens, Chairperson of MAG said: “We have been
patient for long enough and have left this situation
firmly in the hands of elected representatives in
the county. We have asked formally, over the last
number of months, for a funding allocation in the
upcoming budget to kick start any remedial work
needed to address the defective blocks issue in the
county. Discussions will start next week in Dublin
between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. We have decided
that if we don’t see some action, rather than words,
we need someone in the county who will pursue this
to the highest level of government as their number
one priority.
The Mica Action Group is a voluntary group formed in
early 2014 by individuals whose own homes are
cracking due to defective blocks. The objective of
the group is to seek redress for homeowners affected
by this issue. |
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Members of the Mica Action Group meeting
with Minister Damien English on July 13, 2018. |
Anne added “Fine Gael –
at government level - have been aware of this issue
since at least 2014 and yet here we are entering
into another winter, where homeowners are fearful
for their own safety and that of their families.
Enough is enough – we have decided if we don’t see
some political will in the form of a budget
allocation, it is time to ask the people of the
county to support a MAG independent candidate on
this issue.
“Today we wrote to Charlie McConalogue, Fianna Fáil
TD and reminded him that while he has done excellent
work on this issue; raising it time and time again
in the Dáil, we need to see support at leadership
level. We have yet to hear Michael Martin raise this
issue and question Leo Varadkar on it. Why is that?
We also reminded Fianna Fáil that they are in a
position to refuse to sign off on the upcoming
budget. We are asking that they do just that if
redress is not there. It is time to make a firm
stand on this issue. People lives are at risk.
“Let us be very clear: the Mica Action Group are
primarily about redress, we have not entered into
this process with any political ambitions, however,
we find ourselves frustrated time and time again
with the lack of any real progress being made on
this issue. We are calling on all political parties
to pursue this issue and to not stop pursuing it
until a decision to fund a redress scheme is made". |
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