Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)

With respect, no amount of reassurance, avoidance or accountability can disguise these facts. Engineers are being trained on a standard that the State's own research has proven is wrong. The Housing Agency employs these engineers. They must use this training to make decisions about people's homes and people's lives. It is not a technical issue; it is an ethical and legal one. The direct effect is families living in unsafe homes. They are left to appeal and left in limbo. The Government cannot claim distance from Engineers Ireland when its own agency depends on the training for its functioning. By commissioning the research, employing the engineers and funding the process, the State has a clear and unavoidable duty to act. Anything less is complicity. Homeowners are entitled to competent, scientifically-informed decisions. Will the Government commit to ensuring no engineer working on the defective concrete scheme is trained and instructed or certified under an outdated or discredited standard?

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