Thousands of protesters take to the streets to demand mica compensation

Protesters are calling on the Government to adopt a 100pc redress scheme for those whose home are crumbling due to the defective mineral.

Buses arrived from the northwest this morning to bring protestors to the Convention Centre, where the Dáil is sitting.

From there, they marched to Leinster House and the Department of the Taoiseach to voice their anger at the current plans in place.

An estimated 5,000 homes have been built with defective bricks and have forced several families out of their homes after cracks began to appear in the walls of their dream homes.

The Government have pledged to cover 90pc of the renovation costs but protesters claim that they have been left with huge repair bills.

The victims have received the full support of local TDs including Joe McHugh and Padraig Mac Lochlainn who spoke in the Dáil about the scandal recently.

Mr McHugh said that the current scheme to fix houses is simply not working.

“If something is not working, the will has to be there to fix it. There is a strong grassroots campaign which continues to gather momentum and it is imperative that this same momentum is reflected at a Government level.

“The scheme needs to be reviewed and examined immediately – it needs to be looked at on the basis of accessibility; accessibility is not there at the minute and this is a massive concern.

“The people and families affected here are living the ultimate nightmare, the fear of houses falling down is very real and very serious, and we need to deal with this as speedily as possible.”