Mr. Stephen Scott:

To respond to the question about how these defects have happened, every development or dwelling in a multi-unit scheme has to be a self-contained fire compartment. The regulations stipulate the required level of compartition between units. Generally, a fire in one unit should be contained for one hour within the walls of that unit before it spreads anywhere else, which is to give time for the occupants to escape and for the fire brigade to deal with it. The requirements for fire resistance increase depending on the height and complexity of the development, such as the number of escapes. In some areas, fire protection could be required for up to two hours. Achieving that requires a particular form of construction, with multiple different products, such as plasterboards, blockwork, brickwork and so on.

At the outset of the construction process, a fire certificate is prepared by a fire specialist, who outlines the requirements for that specific development, dictated by the height of the development, the number of escapes and lifts, the fire-fighting systems and so forth. That document is approved by the fire officer and handed to the design team, who then take responsibility for implementing a design that will satisfy each of those requirements. They will decide on the construction of the walls, the door types and so on that will, supposedly, achieve those fire requirements. That is a relatively office-based or desk-based system.

The plan is then handed to a contractor, who has to construct it. In doing so, he or she will employ various specialists to supply and install the material. One problem is that during the installation, multiple firms or trades could be working on a particular item or area of the apartment. There might be electricians following plasterers, for example. Multiple pairs of hands are on the construction. My sense of what happened during this period is that while, invariably, the fire certificate was correct, sanctioned and signed off by the relevant authority, and while the design in most cases was probably compliant, when the process went on site, with the constructing of the doors and the risers that pass through the apartment, that was where a breakdown in the process occurred, in terms of both the knowledge and understanding of those involved as to what they were doing. In the majority of cases we see when we go into developments, we can see the fire products that have been used. The correct plasterboard, fire compound and floor levels may have been used, but they may have been installed incorrectly and may not meet the requirements.

There are gaps, holes and openings. There was obviously some sense of doing the right thing by the contractor, using the materials that had been specified, but how that was put together was where there was a failure. That points to a failure of the inspection, monitoring and sign-off regimes. Because of all these different components and moving parts, that is where it fell down, in my view.

On the costs of units, we have been involved in schemes where costs for apartments have been anywhere between €10,000 to €20,000 per apartment. We have had schemes where apartment owners have had to deal with the internal aspects of their apartments only, to do with entrance hallways and so on. They have been at the lower end, at €5,000 or €6,000 per dwelling. That is a broad assessment of what the costs are.

On developers subsequently being given consent to go on and build-----