Yesterday, Engineers Ireland ran a training course for engineers on IS 465, a standard, as the Government knows, that is outdated, discredited and currently under review. I met with Damien Owens, the director general of Engineers Ireland, and spoke to engineers who did not even know the standard was being reviewed. They are being trained to use documents that Government-commissioned research from Geological Survey Ireland has proven to be scientifically wrong. The damage in these homes is caused by internal sulphate attack, not mica, yet engineers are being instructed otherwise. This is not a neutral educational decision. The Housing Agency employs these chartered engineers. They must complete this training to work on the defective concrete scheme. They are being instructed to apply for this discredited standard and are paying for the privilege. Damien Owens has told the Oireachtas joint committee that IS 465 is not fit for purpose, yet Engineers Ireland is proceeding anyway, while Government agencies employ and rely upon these same engineers. The State cannot pretend to detach from this by funding the research that disproves the standard and at the same time allow its own agencies and engineers to operate and to be trained. The research does exist and was paid for by the Government. The Government is complicit in misleading homeowners and committing an injustice. This is not just an oversight but the continuation of a system that punishes victims while protecting the State from accountability.

Every step, inconsistency and contradiction is being documented and will be part of the public record. I have a number of questions for the Tánaiste. Will he confirm that any training required for engineers working in State schemes will immediately be reviewed and aligned with the current peer-reviewed scientific evidence rather than the obsolete, discredited standard? Will he confirm that the Government accepts full responsibility for the oversight of such training and the competence of the engineers whose assessment determines homeowners' eligibility for redress? Will he acknowledge it is entirely unacceptable that the Government commissioned and paid for research that disproves IS 465, yet allows its own scheme to continue training and deploying engineers and to act as if the research does not exist? Will he finally accept that every decision taken under this flawed framework deepens the State's exposure to legal challenges and potential judicial reviews? The Government cannot claim ignorance of evidence it commissioned and published.

I thank Deputy Ward for raising this matter. Before I address the specific issues he raised, I want to say the Government is acting in good faith on the complex issue of defective concrete blocks. However, this is nothing compared with the stress and trauma being experienced by people in the Deputy's county and others. I have visited them. Over the summer months, I met some of the people and sat with them in their kitchen. I cannot even comprehend the level of stress they are dealing with. We are contributing a very significant amount of public money to the scheme. It is expected to be in excess of €2.2 billion. We are working with communities and Oireachtas Members to try to get this right. I thank the Deputy for the constructive contribution he is making to the debate.

As the Deputy said, on 31 March 2025, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI, commenced a public consultation period of the revised draft of IS 465. As the Deputy knows, but for the benefit of others, this is the testing standard used to evaluate the impact on homes. More than 600 submissions were received. The NSAI is now in the process of finalising the review. The review is being informed by a number of pieces of scientific research. The task of the NSAI review group is to assess the implications of the entire body of research. We are endeavouring to inform this on the basis of scientific research.

In November 2024, the Department of housing made changes to the way the grant scheme works for certain homeowners, as the Deputy is aware. This followed receipt of the preliminary results from scientific research done on damaged dwellings in County Donegal, which claimed that the underlying mechanism of damage is as a result of an internal sulphate attack due to the presence of excessive amounts of chemical. From 6 November, all homeowners who have been given an non-demolition option will be offered a choice of continuing with the work on their dwelling under the option determined or the option of a full technical review of their application by the Housing Agency. This review will be informed by the current research, once the full review of IS 465 is complete. If homeowners choose to continue with the works, they will continue to avail of the 40-year Government guarantee. Homeowners who receive an option 1 demolition are unaffected by the changes.

This is complex. It is an important matter and it potentially has serious implications for homeowners and also for the Exchequer. I need to be truthful about that. The Department will review the contents over the consultation period and consider the advice received from the expert group. I do not want to make any inappropriate or pre-emptive comments on the draft standard or the potential changes that it might bring to the grant scheme, but the point about additional training is well made. Yes, training will have to be provided should there be changes, and it will have to be certified or overseen by Government. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to continue to engage with the Deputy and other Oireachtas Members in affected counties on this quite technical but very practical measure for homeowners.

With respect, no amount of reassurance, avoidance or accountability can disguise these facts. Engineers are being trained on a standard that the State's own research has proven is wrong. The Housing Agency employs these engineers. They must use this training to make decisions about people's homes and people's lives. It is not a technical issue; it is an ethical and legal one. The direct effect is families living in unsafe homes. They are left to appeal and left in limbo. The Government cannot claim distance from Engineers Ireland when its own agency depends on the training for its functioning. By commissioning the research, employing the engineers and funding the process, the State has a clear and unavoidable duty to act. Anything less is complicity. Homeowners are entitled to competent, scientifically-informed decisions. Will the Government commit to ensuring no engineer working on the defective concrete scheme is trained and instructed or certified under an outdated or discredited standard?

The point I am making, and the reason I used the word "technical", is since 6 November we are offering all homeowners who have been given that non-demolition option the choice of continuing as was or having that full technical review. I am making the point that review will be informed by the current research, that is, the latest available scientific information. We are genuinely trying to follow the science here. I am also saying to the Deputy I cannot imagine a scenario where training does not arise as a result of that. I cannot imagine a scenario where, on such a sensitive and important issue, the quality of that training is not somewhat overseen or approved by government or government agencies, so I am not endeavouring to be disagreeable on this. I have heard on my recent visits to Donegal that there are also a number of tweaks, though that is completely the wrong word, on how the scheme is being applied and homeowners have made some sensible suggestions to me. A group of homeowners feel they are falling between stools in terms of being able to access and draw down a scheme that has quite a large quantum of money. I intend to engage directly with colleagues across the House on this in the coming weeks.