As part of an ongoing series of reports on key local election issues around the country, Teresa Mannion headed to Donegal where the scandal surrounding defective building blocks is still top of the agenda.
Homeowners affected by the mica crisis say their physical and mental health has been seriously impacted, alongside their crumbling houses.
People in some of the worst affected areas in the Inishowen peninsula and Letterkenny spoke of how their lives have been turned upside down as they watch their homes literally crumbling away before their eyes.
Such are the levels of anger and frustration that a new political party has been set up to try to affect more action. It is called The 100% Redress Party and is fielding six candidates.
In Letterkenny, Sharon Moss is preparing to move her family into a mobile home in her driveway because the house she bought over 20 years ago is literally falling down around her.
She has three teenage children and describes the situation as heartbreaking.
She puts her hand into a cavity in a block on the exterior back wall and crumbles it in her hand. Inside the house's kitchen is rampant with mould.
"There's rooms we cannot use. We still have problems with our electricity, still have extensions all over the house because it trips all the time and it's just getting worse".
She said could spend years in the mobile home because she has not got the money to meet the shortfall in funding.
It is a story repeated again and again across the county.
"We have been allocated €236,000 to build a four-bedroom house and we are going to be at least €75,000 at a loss. We don't actually think we're going to be able to build an entire house.
"Myself and my husband are close to retirement and we're not going to be able to borrow the money.
"That's where we're at when we should be at a nice time in our lives you know, doing nice things.
"We'll move into this mobile home for maybe years, maybe we'll live there for the rest of our lives. You know, that's the reality and it's not just us, it's other people as well".
There are some 7.000 homes in Donegal affected by bad blocks and to date there are only 40-odd houses who have received full remediation grants.
Campaigner Michael Doherty says most people cannot afford to apply because of the caps on payments.
"Regarding the scheme itself, the first point to note is that it's not a 100% redress scheme. It's a grant scheme, and that grant is leaving the average homeowner in around 100,000 short.
"By the time the builder puts their bill through you make up what the difference is. So that's the reality of it, despite what the spin might be out there.
"What we had is a great fanfare of this multi-billion euros scheme announced by Government on one hand, the biggest in the history of the State.
"On the other hand, there's only a trickle of houses getting through. The significant shortfalls mean most people cannot afford to apply in the first place".
Mr Doherty said some of the houses which have been demolished and rebuilt are "patch-up jobs".
"The reality is that these houses have still got latent blockwork which we know still to be defective, and this is a ticking time bomb.
"This is going to come back on the State at another stage. We're putting good block work on top of what's already known to be bad block work. We've just taken out the worst of it. So this is a shambles".
In Carndonagh, widowed pensioner Frank Crumlish is finally out of his condemned house thanks to the kindness of the local community who have found him emergency accommodation.
"I’m 76 years of age and I’ve recently lost my wife.
"My house is falling down and I’m putting field mice back out through the walls. I tried to get the council to sort me out while my house gets repaired, but they said I hadn’t a hope when I already have a house.
"If it wasn’t for my neighbours I don’t what would have become of me," he added.
"I’m a bricklayer myself and learnt my trade in London. Sometimes I wish I’d never returned to Donegal. It’s awful, I feel awful.
"I’m not the same man I used to be".
Dr Seamus Kelly said the impact of the mica scandal has left permanent scars.
"Sadly, Frank Crumlish is one of many experiencing stress, depression, anxiety and hopelessness and the truth is, people feel very betrayed by the Government and believe that if they were living in other areas, they would get full redress and financial support to help them with their accommodation.
"At the end of the day, a lot of people cannot afford the current scheme, you know, that they don't have the money for it, that need to present to cover their own costs of accommodation."
Paddy Diver is another key campaigner in the Carndonagh area.
His house is currently being knocked down after 12 years.
He said the cumbersome administration, red tape and lack of action is destroying lives and engulfing the community in a cloud of despair, anxiety and heartbreak that some may never recover from.
