It is up to UK to pursue firms over Grenfell Tower fire – Micheál Martin

By Cate McCurry and Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said it is for the UK authorities to pursue companies over the Grenfell Tower fire.

Mr Martin was responding to comments by former UK housing secretary Michael Gove that criminal prosecutions should be brought against Grenfell Tower cladding firms, including the Ireland-based firm Kingspan.

Mr Martin said he was “surprised” by Mr Gove’s comments as reported in the Sunday Times at the weekend.

Mr Gove claimed attempts to punish Kingspan, Arconic and Celotex when he was in government had been blocked by “bureaucracies”.

There was “insufficient action” from foreign governments on responsible companies based abroad, he said, adding that attempts to restrict imports of their products ran up against the “commercial purism of Treasury Mandarin Brain”.

Speaking to media in Newry, Co Down, on Monday, Mr Martin said: “I was surprised by those comments by Michael Gove.

“There are proper procedures by which one pursues this. Politicians generally don’t get involved in the criminal justice system in the sense that these are matters that do have to be pursued.

“The report has a series of comments and observations to make in respect of a number of companies including Kingspan, but that’s a matter for the British authorities to pursue.

“There are various regulations and laws in place and it’s a matter for the authorities in respect of the jurisdiction to investigate as to whether those laws were properly adhered to or not.”

The final report of the Grenfell Inquiry said the west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation.

Kingspan had, from 2005 and even after the inquiry began in the wake of the fire, “knowingly created a false market in insulation” for use on buildings over 18 metres tall (59ft), it said.