Dr. Martina Cleary:

To correct the Deputy, the results that came back met the IS 465 criteria with exactly the same measurements, analysis and rigour that had already qualified Mayo with at least 150 houses. We specifically chose our consultant engineer because he was one of the most experienced in the country. We chose Petrolab as one of the most independent labs available. They came back and everybody was puzzled as to why the Department asked for additional criteria and testing. It stated very clearly that the analysis regime had already been met.

What we worry about is that they were changing the regime. With Clare County Council they made us go through extraordinary measures to find this causative link between pyrite in the block, oxidation and damage, which was producing gypsum and secondary minerals like thaumasite, a sulphate attack that is far more problematic. I am sure Dr. Andreas Leemann will be able to speak about that as well. It is not just pyrite we have but a secondary sulphate attack. Sulphate levels in the blocks in County Clare are far above regulation standards.

They are changing the IS 465 standards behind the scenes but what we are primarily worried about is what is worded from the working group, which is that the minimum damage is now 1.5 mm for group 2 listings. There is already an assessment regime in place and it has been working perfectly well, supervised by IS 465 engineers. They are prepared to sign off on that. However, the new group 2 is very different. The original group comprised cracking on one elevation. We often see that with the damage we see in Clare. Not all the cracks are 1.5 mm across. However, getting to the core testing stage we have numerous examples. The block under the render would be in a critical state of collapse; it is dust and rubble and it is critically dangerous.

We are very worried about the visual inspection only, which denies homeowners access to that level of core testing because it will not be available. We speculate as to whether that would even be independent. It was absolutely essential that we had independent engineers because we were worried about the results being compromised otherwise. We have several examples of that because of the scope of our supplier.