An engineer on the Engineers Ireland Register of Chartered Engineers selected to assess Mica affected properties has raised concerns with the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme.
Dr Ambrose McCloskey of MA McCloskey Ltd, Dungiven in a letter sent to Donegal and Mayo County Councils, local campaign groups and the Housing Minister has warned that unless changes are made to the scheme he will be withdrawing from the Register.
Dr Ambrose McCloskey has raised concerns over the lack of knowledge of the exact mode of degradation of the blocks in order to recommend the partial fixing of homes.
He says several other Register Engineers have similar concerns around the scheme.
Dr McCloskey fears unless affected properties are completely demolished, further structural deterioration will occur.
He has also stated that the financial cap of the scheme needs to be removed
He believes that at is currently stands, homeowners will be left with a dwelling with a blighted value and a question over the structural integrity that they can only hope will last another 15-20 years without significant deterioration.
Calls were made also for authorities to ensure robust measures are in place to control the quality of the blocks used in remedial works to ensure the same issues does not occur again.
Dr McCloskey finished his letter by saying unless things change he will not be taking on any more clients and will withdraw from the Register where possible and believes there will be a severe shortfall in Engineering and construction manpower to carry out the scheme when work starts.
