An Ulster University professor has called for more public awareness after defective blocks have been found in houses in Derry.
Derry City and Strabane Council have also announced they have embarked on a data collection exercise to quantify the number of residents in the Council area whose properties have MICA.
Professor Paul Dunlop, Research Director of Geography & Environmental Sciences, has seen the extent of the devastation of families impacted by defective blocks in Donegal.
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Paul spoke to MyDerry about what homeowners in Derry should be prepared for if they suspect their house contains defective blocks.
He said: "The impacts on the homes are severe, if the property has been made using defective concrete blocks, it takes a while for the cracking to appear because the reactions take time to manifest in the concrete, but once cracking starts, it is impossible to stop.
"The impacts on the family are equally devastating, the severe stress and anxiety this has caused in Donegal and beyond is heartbreaking. The financial strains are also a huge impact, the current grant scheme does not cover 100% of costs despite what the Irish government claims. Families are being forced to make decisions as to whether they send their kids to university of try and fix their homes.
"As this crisis has drifted for 12 years now, for many children the trauma of living in a defective concrete home is all they know and there will be intergenerational psychological trauma associated with this crisis.
He continued: "Ultimately the main way to confirm the property has this issue is to conduct detailed lab tests that can confirm the presence of problem minerals in the concrete. Derry City and Strabane District Council are asking people for MICA tests. Most people will not have done this as it is very expensive and will cost homeowners several thousand pounds. It is important to test for all potentially harmful minerals that includes pyrrhotite and pyrite as well as MICA that are turning up in defective concrete in Donegal.
"I think council officials should be reaching out and into the expertise that is available in Donegal to get good advice about how best to approach this complex issue. It is not going to be as straight forward as asking home owners to email in their concerns.
"I think there needs to be a public awareness campaign in the DCSC area to educate people about the possible risks, have public meetings in local communities to show then the typical damage that would be expected, provide information on how they could track suppliers, reach out to contractors to find about their suppliers. The local councillors, MLAs and MPs need to be prioritising meeting with the Irish Government to get access to the remediation scheme."
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