It was announced this week that by the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Paudie Coffey, that an expert panel is being established to investigate the presence of mica and defective blocks in homes and buildings in Mayo.
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring welcomed the news saying: “This is a welcome development in a long and complicated road, and is a result of extremely hard work and perseverance, from the home owners and the MICA Action Group, and Minister Paudie Coffey and his officials. “I understand that an interim report will be expected by the end of May and the panel are allowing for six months to carry out their investigations before a final report will be completed. This will be presented to the Minister for review. As part of their work, one of the first tasks of the panel is to meet with the MICA Action Group and their representatives, so that they have an opportunity to feed in their knowledge and experience directly to the panel."
The membership of the expert panel will comprise Noel Kane, BE, Dip Comp Eng, EurIng, CEng, FIEI, FIStructE, MIEAust, MACI, RconEI, member of the National Standards Authority of Ireland’s Concrete and Eurocodes Consultative Committees and the chair of its Masonry Panel and Eurocodes Masonry Subcommittee; Frank Lee, BE, CEng, FIEI, FConsEI who has been nominated by the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland; and Dave Blaney, PGeo, and board member of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland.
