Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I welcome the Minister. Three blocks of quite new apartments, namely, the Foundry, the Forge and the Kiln, are based at the junction between Railway Street and Beaver Street in Dublin 1. Some of these are private apartments and others belong to Dublin City Council under Part V arrangements. All three blocks are part of the same overall development which was developed by Townlink Limited.

Bord Gáis conducted an inspection of some of the apartments in the Foundry and discovered degradation in the gas flues. It then decided that the other units in the development would need to be inspected to establish the extent of the problem. On inspection of the Kiln and the Forge it was discovered problems also existed there. Bord Gáis then decided to turn off the gas supply to these units until a full inspection could be done by a competent engineering company.

The problem rests with the developer who used McKeon Brothers mechanical engineering company to carry out the installation. The boilers were sourced from a UK company which was contacted about the problem and insisted on coming to Dublin to monitor and inspect the work to be carried out to rectify the matter. Parts had to be obtained which caused a further delay.

The initial problem started on Thursday, 8 November, but nothing had happened by the weekend which is when I began to receive calls. Luckily it has been a relatively mild November but one can imagine what it would have been like if it had happened last year. People have been deprived of all heating and cooking facilities for more than a fortnight. Dublin City Council provided heaters after a number of days had passed but the private owners of other apartments are in difficulty with little assistance.

I understand work is to begin today with the parts having being supplied. However, it was also supposed to have begun last week. I am not sure how long it will take. It is of major concern that part of the original construction and design work of three new blocks of apartments was faulty. The gas flues between the ceilings and upper floors were not properly secured and degradation has already occurred in the joints. This sounds very serious, and if this is the case, are we sure these are the only flaws in the construction and design? I am concerned about the safety of the tenants and residents. Their discomfort is the immediate problem but no home owner or tenant walking into a brand new development would have expected something like this would happen so soon.

There have been many problems with pyrite in the constituency, and elsewhere we have had issues such as the inadequate development at Priory Hall. I am very concerned that we will find similar problems here. Will the Minister ensure when the work is completed that an independent survey is conducted of the construction, design and completed work?

See this speech in context