Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 13 July 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government
Defective Block Scheme Regulations and Review of IS 465: Discussion
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I hope in future the Department will reflect on that type of language. I really want to work constructively with Mr. Ó Coigligh to find solutions but he might please reflect on that type of language when he comes back to do the review in six months' time. I am absolutely convinced that when Mr. Ó Coigligh does the review, he will not use that language again.
In terms of the National Standards Authority of Ireland, I absolutely concur with my colleague, Deputy McHugh. We cannot have a message going back to people in County Donegal that it will be the end of 2024 before we have this. I am appealing to Ms Larkin that this be done as soon as possible. I appreciate she is curtailed by science, but I also know there have been serious delays in commencing some of these research projects. It is hard to believe it is one year ago that we dealt with this legislation and it was concluded. One of the big problems was that nobody could stand over the science. Literally nobody can stand over IS 465. Nobody will say they guarantee that is the way to remediate homes on that basis. That is why it is being reviewed. Surely, there can be some type of interim finding in terms of foundations. Would Ms Larkin agree right now with Mr. John McLaughlin, chief executive of Donegal County Council, that people cannot be asked to continue to build houses on the same foundations because there is no scientific basis for doing so?