Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I promise that this is my final point. In terms of the issue of pyrrotite, the international evidence is that it can impact even strong concrete structures such as foundations. Right now, it is not recommended that foundations would be tested in Donegal, which is predominantly affected by pyrrotite. How can that be? How can there be a recommendation not to test foundations when the international evidence is that an excessive level of pyrrotite leads to internal sulfate attack? The problem now is that there is a sense that the science is catching up with the scheme. In terms of IS 465, which was in place, I can only speak with authority about Donegal, engineers have started to challenge it on the ground and to say they could not in conscience make recommendations, as they do not believe the science was right. Nobody stepped forward to defend IS 465. Therefore, it was completely undermined in terms of its credibility. People are being asked to rebuild their homes and they are not convinced that the science is right. The evidence that is emerging suggests that the science that supposedly underpins the existing IS 465 is not right. That causes me great concern. We are asking people not to test the foundations and telling them there is no need to do that, even though international evidence suggests that in the presence of excessive levels of pyrrotite we really should test the foundations. That is our problem with these timelines. We are asking people to undertake a scheme next year but people have lost confidence already and they will lose even more confidence unless we address the issue. The testing of foundations must be clarified urgently so that we can progress.