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Funding for Fire safety works in the Oldcourt estate turned down by Government

Cllr John Brady has expressed complete shock at a decision by the Dept. of Environment to turn down an application for funding to proceed with remedial works to address major fire safety issues in the Oldcourt Housing estate in Bray.

The Sinn Fein Councillor said "an application for funding was made to the Dept. based on the very damming fire safety assessment which was carried out by independent fire safety experts employed by Bray Town Council. The Oldcourt estate has seen many fire related deaths since the estate was refurbished in the 1980s. Many concerns had been expressed about faults and flaws in the construction of the houses and that these faults may have had a role to play in the fatalities."

"I have been working on the issue since elected in 2004 and having been constantly told that no works could be carried out until the problems where fully identified. I subsequently argued the need for an independent fire safety audit to be carried out , I was successful and a budget of &eur;70,000 was set aside in 2005 for the audit."

Brady continued " A comprehensive and very detailed examination took place of the houses in the Oldcourt estate. The final report was handed over to the Council in 2007. The findings in the report gave a damming assessment of the houses and certainly vindicated the long held views of myself and the residents of Oldcourt in relation to the safety of the houses."

The report highlighted a number of major defects in the structures of the houses such as:

• Highly flammable Bitumen felt contained in cavities.
• No fire breaks between houses.
• Presence of old flat roofs left in attic space with Bitumen felt
• Problems with electrics.
• Large holes in dividing walls in attic spaces , allowing fire to spread to adjoining property.
• Problems around chimneys which would allow lethal gases rise from ground floor to bedrooms with ease.

The consultants outlined in great detail remedial works that where needed to the houses to bring them up to the necessary fire safety requirements.

Cllr Brady said " A lot of the issues contained in the safety audit had been known for many years, but now we had them confirmed by an independent fire safety expert. On foot of the damming report a detailed plan to rectify the problems was put together by Bray town Council and submitted to the Dept. of Environment for funding last year. I was very confident that the application would be successful due to the fact that so many lives have been lost in the estate due to fires, and now we had a plan to set right the problems once and for all. However I raised the issue at the Council meeting on Tuesday night only to be informed that the Dept. had said that the application was unsuccessful. I was shocked given the fact we have a damming report on the safety of the houses and that there is a track record of fires and fatalities in the estate. This is truly unbelievable and I firmly believe that this Government is abdicating their responsibilities in ensuring that all council housing is up to the necessary safety standards, and now there are aware of the issues in the estate are totally liable."

Cllr Brady concluded by saying "This issue is far too serious to be shelved and I will continue to push the issue at council level and in Leinster House. I will be meeting with the residents in the coming days and we will explore all options open to us at this point. The issue of fire safety in Oldcourt is far too serious and funding to rectify the faults should be a priority for the council and this Government."