Results 7,721-7,740 of 9,169 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have no confidence in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government to tackle the housing crisis. For ten years, from 2011 to 2021, we have had a lost decade in my home county of Donegal. There has been almost zero public housing built on public lands. Instead, the Government forces thousands of families into private rental accommodation and, of course, that takes us to a very significant...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: He is on the radio, if the Minister must know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: There are two excerpts from the witnesses' submissions I want to draw attention to. They set the scene for the committee. Ms Larkin's submission includes the sentence "The cause of these problems are deleterious materials which are naturally occurring minerals found in rock deposits in Ireland". That is the core issue, pardon the pun, that has brought us to this. Only the banking scandal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is for the NBCMSO.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: At a recent conference in Donegal, a range of international experts presented their findings. One was Dr. Andreas Leemann. I am sure the witnesses will accept that Dr. Leemann is an international expert in this area. He carried out tests on a number of blocks and found the amount of sulphates was seven to ten times the amount allowable under EN 12/620. I am certain the panel will agree...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: What were the specific findings on the quarry I am referring to? I will not name it but I think the officials know which one it is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Mr. Butler is satisfied that in terms of deleterious materials that may be in that quarry-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This is extremely alarming. What has led to this crisis, per Ms Larkin's submission, is the existence of deleterious materials. That has given rise to one of the biggest scandals in the history of this State. Deleterious materials were present and the levels were not in line with established European and Irish regulation. I am asking about the quarry that led to this audit. Has there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I want to be clear. I am not going to name the quarry, but it has repeatedly been publicly identified. There is one quarry in Donegal that is primarily associated with the vast majority of defective blocks. We are talking about thousands of public and private homes in Donegal. Has the quarry been extensively examined from a geological point of view to try to understand what has led to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Anyone who has not seen the testimony of Andreas Leemann to the committee can watch it. Likewise, the testimony of other experts from Canada, Norway and the UK is available. I understand they will be assisting the GSI. Everybody accepts now the resource provided by international experts and people who we want to help us in Ireland. Dr. Leemann has said that the tests he has carried out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Chair uses the phrase "mica" and refers to a "mica crisis" but what we are starting to understand in Donegal anyway is that the chief offender is pyrrotite, based on the emerging evidence. This is a question for Ms Larkin. How can it be that the NSAI came forward with IS 465 but did not allow for pyrrotite to be considered in terms of forming a prognosis cure to what has emerged?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have a brief supplementary question in that regard. People are very anxious that the current review being undertaken by the NSAI would lead to a conclusion and give people confidence that they can have a standard that can help them to rebuild their lives and homes. What sort of timeframe is the NSAI working on to conclude the review and to make strong recommendations to the Government?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I promise that this is my final point. In terms of the issue of pyrrotite, the international evidence is that it can impact even strong concrete structures such as foundations. Right now, it is not recommended that foundations would be tested in Donegal, which is predominantly affected by pyrrotite. How can that be? How can there be a recommendation not to test foundations when the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank the Chair; I appreciate his forbearance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: There are 180 registered quarries in Donegal. The NBCSMO audited 17 quarries that are related to the manufacture of concrete blocks. However, there are 180 quarries in Donegal. Just to be clear, the NBCMSO has audited fewer than 10%. Is that fair to say? Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is just important. There is a perception that all quarries in Donegal were audited. There are 180 quarries in Donegal; 17 were audited for the reasons that Ms Phelan has explained. I want that on the record. I will ask this question again regarding the quarry that was responsible for the vast majority of the defective concrete blocks in Donegal. Was that quarry one of the 17 audited?...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It was sample tested. Was it one of the 17 quarries that were audited?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It was one of the 17 quarries that were audited; that is important. That is clear so. In terms of the EN 12620, there is the standard recommendation, SR 16 process. Under that process, a geological and petrographic assessment is required on an ongoing basis. Once the first assessment is done, it is required every three years from then on. I want to be clear on this point. Of the 17...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: There is a profound concern in Donegal that the geological and petrographic assessment that would have been carried out for the quarry which we are most concerned about, needs to be re-evaluated and assessed. From a geological and petrographic perspective, is Mr. McGrath happy that that particular quarry has a clean bill of health at this point or does he feel it needs further examination?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Issues Relating to Quarries and Deleterious Materials: Discussion (6 Dec 2022)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This next question is for Mr. Feargal Ó Coigligh. We are talking about a quarry here that sadly is the source of the vast majority of the defective concrete blocks in thousands of public and private buildings, and nobody can tell me today if there has been an independent examination from a geological and petrographic perspective. Am I right in saying that as we speak here today, almost...