Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 April 2016
736. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has appointed a chairperson to the mica expert panel; if not, when he will make this appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5363/16]
View answerEarlier this year, I announced the appointment of Mr. Denis McCarthy to chair the expert panel that is being established to investigate the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in Donegal and Mayo. Mr. McCarthy is a former Director of Services with Waterford County Council and has the necessary mix of skills and experience that will be required to direct and manage the work of the expert panel over the months ahead.
Following Mr. McCarthy’s appointment, my Department wrote to the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Engineers Ireland and the Institute of Geologists of Ireland seeking nominations for suitable persons to participate on the expert panel; in this context, I recently announced the full composition of the expert panel as:
- Mr. Noel Kane, BE, Dip Comp Eng, EurIng, CEng, FIEI, FI StructE, MIEAust, MACI, RconEI, member of the National Standards Authority of Ireland’s Concrete and Eurocodes Consultative Committees and the chair of their Masonry Panel and Eurocodes Masonry Subcommittee,
- Mr. Frank Lee, BE, CEng, FIEI, FConsEI, nominated by the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland, and
- Mr. Dave Blaney, PGeo, and board member of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland.
Now that the members of the expert panel are in place, arrangements are underway for the work of the panel to commence and I look forward to reading a copy of their report in due course following the completion of their investigations.
