Gas tragedy will have far-reaching implications - Dallat

“The tragic death of the two young boys at Castlerock and the subsequent discoveries of faulty gas appliances in Portstewart make it inevitable that the gas industry and how it is regulated must be examined in microscopic fashion to bring the changes that are necessary to ensure that never again we have this kind of situation anywhere in the North,” said Mr Dallat.

“The role of the Health and Safety Executive is critical not simply in policing the industry but in bringing forward new legislation which must be debated in the Assembly to ensure that the fullest protection is in place to avoid a repeat of these tragic events.

“The public need reassurance that gas is safe, that the gas fitters are trained to the highest level and that training is constantly reviewed as new appliances come onto the market.

“Most importantly there has to be a system of policing which ensures that checks are made by an independent body to ensure that work is of the highest standard and no-one is employed who is not qualified or who has not been updating their training on an annual basis.

“The fitting of gas detectors is clearly one step forward but it does not address the problem and that is where the weaknesses clearly are and elected representatives must have the opportunity to debate what needs to be done to restore confidence among the general public. That confidence is at an all time low with the role of the Health and Safety Executive under serious question as to how it has handled the situation to date.

“There is a very important role for the gas distributors who have remained remarkably quiet which this crisis runs its course.”