Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The horror in Grenfell was murder by negligence. In November, the residents in the Grenfell Action Group wrote, "It is a truly terrifying thought, but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord". That was prophetic. For two years they had been warning about fire safety and other issues. Critically, as a fire consultant explained to me today, it was not just the combustible nature of the material, it was the fact that the gap between the building and the material created a flue which allowed the fire to bypass the separation and fire resistance required between units.

The question we have to ask, apart from the criminal negligence that needs to be accounted for in Britain, is whether it can happen here. Last week, I raised it with the Taoiseach and I met him again today. Kevin Hollingsworth has confirmed that the answer to the question is that it can happen here. The deficiencies in our regulations themselves, and not just in enforcement or compliance, allow for this to happen. There is supposed to be 60 minutes fire resistance between units. The Government has known since the 1980s that the fire regulations do not provide that. I watched a film today where officials who are still in the Department with responsibility for the environment, watched tests showing this and were asked to change the regulations to ensure separation, from the roof to the separating walls. There are problems particularly in roofs but there are problems in sockets and other areas, which mean we do not have the 60 minutes. The fire in Newbridge that was mentioned earlier proves this. There were eight units, which means that a fire starting in one unit should take 420 minutes to spread to the last unit. It took 26 minutes. Those houses were signed off and certified as compliant.

There is a problem with the standards. Last year, the Minister asked fire consultants to make submissions, which they did. The fire consultant I spoke to met the then Minister, Deputy Coveney. The new version of the building regulations was agreed. Today, I was told that earlier this year they totally ignored the consultant's proposals for changes. Then we have the fiasco of self-certification off plans with no inspection of buildings. I could go on but I do not have time. This is absolutely scandalous. We are guilty up to our necks of refusing to listen for more than 20 years to experts who have told us the standards themselves, never mind the enforcement and compliance, is completely deficient, completely substantiate, and as recently as this year we ignored the advice of the experts in this area and signed off on new regulations. It is an absolute scandal.

See this speech in context