The striking thing about Donegal County Council’s July plenary was the deafening lack of discussion on a nevertheless unanimously agreed motion concerning increasing numbers of defective-home owners. (The full text of the motion is carried at the end of this article.)
In the almost indecent, nothing-to-see-here, haste to move on, proposer Cllr Frank McBrearty (Independent), was almost denied the opportunity to sum up.
Cllr Tomás Devine (100% Redress) seconded the motion. There followed a perfunctory acknowledgement by the director of water and the environment. Strangely, the opinion of not one other councillor was sought or heard.
Cllr Devine revealed more than 70 families in Letterkenny had had the remediation recommendations of their IS 465 certified engineers downgraded by the Housing Agency.
He added:
Addressing the Council, Cllr McBrearty said he was bringing the motion on behalf of all homeowners who had applied to the 90/10 and Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks schemes and had their engineers’ recommendations downgraded.
He quoted a response from Donegal County Council contained in a Freedom of Information request he had made.
It said:
Cllr McBrearty added there was “overwhelming evidence” the Mica Freeze – Thaw theory and the IS 465 testing protocol, was designed and created by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) technical committee, assisted by Donegal County Council.
He said:
Summing up, Cllr McBrearty referred to the overwhelming evidence, reactive iron sulphide minerals are the cause of the structural defects in Donegal properties.
The Raphoe councillor added:
The full text of Cllr Frank McBrearty’s motion to Donegal County Council
That this newly elected council calls on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD; Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Mr Graham Doyle; the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD; and Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Ms Oonagh McPhilip's, to ensure and put the Housing Agency on notice they must desist from and reverse their unlawful actions to overturn qualified and registered IS 465 Chartered Engineers’ recommendations, made on behalf of their clients, "based on science" and that the Housing Agency gives a legal undertaking that they will not ignore the science which proves that Mica and Freeze Thaw is not the cause of the Donegal defective concrete scandal – incorrectly labelled as the Mica Scandal by those in power.
The Engineers’ recommendations are legally based on scientific evidence, obtained from scientific testing, especially that of Petrolab from Cornwall in the UK.
The above departments must legally act before it is too late for the affected home owners who have had their Engineers recommendations downgraded to date.
The Housing Agency's illegal actions have been imposed on desperate home owners unlawfully, which has resulted in them accepting an incorrect engineering solution, forced on them because of the flawed IS 465 Mica protocol, enforced by Donegal County Council and the Housing Agency, when entering both the 90/10 and now the enhanced grant schemes.
The Housing Agency must act on this unlawfulness with immediate effect and do so based on the science that proves that the presence of Mica in concrete blocks and the incorrect theory that Freeze – Thaw is a contributing factor in the defects, identified in the Irish Mica Standard IS 465 Protocol used for testing, is a clear breach of EU directives that have been endorsed by the NSAI in the IS EN 771-3:2002 standard and standards prior to this.
The IS EN 12620:2002 standard for aggregates used in concrete is also being ignored by the Irish Mica Standard IS 465 protocol, which is also a clear breach of EU directives and Irish Standards that must be adhered to for concrete blocks manufactured in the Republic of Ireland.
The Department must act now, and the evidence today shows that Local Authorities all over Ireland are testing all new developments under the blocks standard IS EN 771-3 and not the Mica Standard IS 465.
The over whelming scientific evidence of internal sulphate attack in the concrete blocks tested over the last four and half years is now undeniable, and this evidence is supported by the world’s leading experts by way of peer review studies and peer reviewed literature, published in the past and today.
If the Departments above do not act on this motion, then I am calling on the newly elected council to come together and take the appropriate legal action in the superior courts and do so on behalf of all those directly and indirectly affected by the defective concrete scandal labelled incorrectly as caused by Mica and Freeze – Thaw.
In the almost indecent, nothing-to-see-here, haste to move on, proposer Cllr Frank McBrearty (Independent), was almost denied the opportunity to sum up.
Cllr Tomás Devine (100% Redress) seconded the motion. There followed a perfunctory acknowledgement by the director of water and the environment. Strangely, the opinion of not one other councillor was sought or heard.
Cllr Devine revealed more than 70 families in Letterkenny had had the remediation recommendations of their IS 465 certified engineers downgraded by the Housing Agency.
He added:
People living in semi-detached homes, one is being downgraded and the other is still being demolished. I can’t get my head around it. The review of IS 465 needs to come a lot sooner, in fact it needs to be abolished.
Addressing the Council, Cllr McBrearty said he was bringing the motion on behalf of all homeowners who had applied to the 90/10 and Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks schemes and had their engineers’ recommendations downgraded.
He quoted a response from Donegal County Council contained in a Freedom of Information request he had made.
It said:
I wish to clarify that the wording of the query appears to suggest the remedial option approved can be different to that recommended by the chartered engineer.This is never the case and the Council do not decide the remedial option for any dwelling.
The chartered engineer must prepare a report in accordance with IS 465 in respect of the relevant dwelling, that sets out confirmation of the existence of damage to the dwelling arising out of or in connection with the use of defective concrete blocks in the construction of dwelling and recommend a remedial option for the relevant dwelling that represents the minimum feasible remedial works.
Cllr McBrearty added there was “overwhelming evidence” the Mica Freeze – Thaw theory and the IS 465 testing protocol, was designed and created by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) technical committee, assisted by Donegal County Council.
He said:
I am requesting elected members support this motion because the affected homeowners having their recommendations downgraded illegally, should be fully supported by the people who promised them, when they ran for election on June 7, they would stand by them and take whatever actions were necessary to have these decisions reversed.
This includes the decision in the 90/10 scheme, to grant people options other than Option 1 (full demolition), due to the fact that total sulphites, including pyrrhotite, is the cause of the structural defects in Donegal properties. It cannot be denied by the Council Executive this is the case.
Summing up, Cllr McBrearty referred to the overwhelming evidence, reactive iron sulphide minerals are the cause of the structural defects in Donegal properties.
The Raphoe councillor added:
Council now needs to now accept, publicly, due to the fact this motion is going to be passed, it got it wrong with the theory Mica was the cause of the structural defects.
There are a number of chartered engineers in this council. [The Director] is one of them. I am asking him to put his reputation on the record and state publicly mica is the cause of the structural defects, as opposed to the structural defects being caused by reactive iron sulphide minerals – predominantly pyrrhotite.
I am asking the CE, who is also a chartered engineer, to put it on the record here Mica is the cause of the structural defects,” said Cllr McBrearty, who added the facts would emerge during the forthcoming Judicial Review and impending High Court Case being taken by his mother and father.
The facts are, the Executive cannot deny any longer Mica is not the cause of the structural defects in Donegal properties.
It was a smokescreen, as stated in The Ditch, the Mica Theory was designed to ensure ‘minimum feasible remedial works’ in a scheme designed around a false protocol, which in Donegal, only tests for the presence of Mica.This warrants a public inquiry, which will examine why Council engineers took the line since 2013, along with other chartered engineers, who helped to design and create the IS 465 protocol, Mica was the cause of the structural defects, when in reality, it was nothing more than a cover-up in this defective concrete blocks and defective concrete scandal.
The full text of Cllr Frank McBrearty’s motion to Donegal County Council
That this newly elected council calls on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD; Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Mr Graham Doyle; the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD; and Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Ms Oonagh McPhilip's, to ensure and put the Housing Agency on notice they must desist from and reverse their unlawful actions to overturn qualified and registered IS 465 Chartered Engineers’ recommendations, made on behalf of their clients, "based on science" and that the Housing Agency gives a legal undertaking that they will not ignore the science which proves that Mica and Freeze Thaw is not the cause of the Donegal defective concrete scandal – incorrectly labelled as the Mica Scandal by those in power.
The Engineers’ recommendations are legally based on scientific evidence, obtained from scientific testing, especially that of Petrolab from Cornwall in the UK.
The above departments must legally act before it is too late for the affected home owners who have had their Engineers recommendations downgraded to date.
The Housing Agency's illegal actions have been imposed on desperate home owners unlawfully, which has resulted in them accepting an incorrect engineering solution, forced on them because of the flawed IS 465 Mica protocol, enforced by Donegal County Council and the Housing Agency, when entering both the 90/10 and now the enhanced grant schemes.
The Housing Agency must act on this unlawfulness with immediate effect and do so based on the science that proves that the presence of Mica in concrete blocks and the incorrect theory that Freeze – Thaw is a contributing factor in the defects, identified in the Irish Mica Standard IS 465 Protocol used for testing, is a clear breach of EU directives that have been endorsed by the NSAI in the IS EN 771-3:2002 standard and standards prior to this.
The IS EN 12620:2002 standard for aggregates used in concrete is also being ignored by the Irish Mica Standard IS 465 protocol, which is also a clear breach of EU directives and Irish Standards that must be adhered to for concrete blocks manufactured in the Republic of Ireland.
The Department must act now, and the evidence today shows that Local Authorities all over Ireland are testing all new developments under the blocks standard IS EN 771-3 and not the Mica Standard IS 465.
The over whelming scientific evidence of internal sulphate attack in the concrete blocks tested over the last four and half years is now undeniable, and this evidence is supported by the world’s leading experts by way of peer review studies and peer reviewed literature, published in the past and today.
If the Departments above do not act on this motion, then I am calling on the newly elected council to come together and take the appropriate legal action in the superior courts and do so on behalf of all those directly and indirectly affected by the defective concrete scandal labelled incorrectly as caused by Mica and Freeze – Thaw.
⏪Hugh O’Donnell is on the ground in Donegal.
No comments