Mr. Feargal ? Coigligh:

I had the benefit of hearing the beginning of the session while we were in the Custom House before we left, but then travelled over here, so I only heard some of the second part of the very strong contributions from the people affected in Donegal, Clare and elsewhere.

For the people living with this distress, it has been a very long campaign. As the Senator pointed out, there is a tension between ongoing concerns and an impatience to get moving and I heard that this morning. There has been criticism of deadlines being missed because we promised to finalise regulations at a particular date and we lost a few weeks so there is an impatience to get going. Some of the concerns and criticisms that have been there from the beginning are still there. From the Department's point of view, we now have an Act to work with. The Oireachtas has laid down a scheme, a funding mechanism, certain limits and a mechanism to increase those limits in a particular fashion. Those are our operating instructions right now. The Act has a three-year review clause. The Department's focus is on getting the scheme up and running because people have been waiting very long time.

There is understandable frustration regarding the science. As we have gone through this, our knowledge has continued to deepen. We are funding a very deep research programme. This will inform not just our own standards, but probably European standards as well. We are going into territory and detail in respect of issues around pyrrhotite and sulfides more generally that has probably not been done before. We are breaking new ground here.

Regarding the criticism of IS 465 of 2018, Ms. Geraldine Larkin from NSAI can talk about that. Our view, and that of the Housing Agency, is that there is sufficient flexibility within IS 465 to address any issues around mica, pyrite and pyrrhotite and the previously mentioned interim guidelines may also helpful. We can work through these issues. It is in nobody's interest to hide anything or not to uncover something. It is in nobody's interest to deny points of view from other technical experts. They all have to be investigated thoroughly and bottomed out. Sometimes the argument is set out as mica versus pyrrhotite. It does not really matter. We have to get to the bottom of this and ensure that houses are fixed and that these issues do not arise again. It is not as if a huge amount has not been done to prevent issues arising again but we can we can get into that in a little bit more detail.

The guidelines and the schedules are quite complex but they are there to serve as a guide for people. The Housing Agency is now involved, which will be very helpful.

Regarding issues about foundations, to date, there has been no evidence of failure in foundations, but research is ongoing.