'Time this was brought to a head': High Court Judge says on Cassidys case

A motion to completely strike out a legal defence by the Donegal company at the centre of the defective concrete blocks crisis will be brought before the High Court next month.

It follows repeated failures by Cassidys to comply with a High Court discovery order, which requires the company to turn over thousands of documents.

The company has repeatedly missed deadlines in the case. This week, at the Commercial High Court in Dublin, it was ruled that there would be no further time extensions granted. 

“This has gone on long enough,” said Mr Justice Mark Sanfey, in granting the plaintiff, Defective Blocks Ireland CLG, liberty to issue the motion returnable for January 20, 2025.

“I think it is time that this was brought to a head.”

The case on behalf of Defective Blocks Ireland CLG is being taken by Coleman Legal while Donegal County Council and the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) are also named defendants in the matter.

The case is being taken on behalf of around 2,000 homeowners affected by defective concrete. Defective Blocks Ireland CLG is a not-for-profit organisation, founded by Buncrana businessman Adrian Sheridan.

Mr Ben Clarke BL, on behalf of Coleman Legal, told the court that a discovery request was made in December 2023 and agreed in January 2024.

“Since that date the Cassidy defendants have had a number of extensions of time to make discovery,” he said.

Earlier this month, Mr Justice Denis McDonald ruled that if discovery wasn’t made by December 18 that the motion to strike out the defence could be issued.

Mr Clarke said: “On the last occasion the Court was told that discovery was with the relevant third party service providers and was incoming effectively. I understand and I assume that is still the case but it is yet to materialise.”

The company is required to hand over thousands of documents related to the case. At a previous sitting of the court, Mr Eamonn Dillon, the firm’s solicitor, told how Cassidys had encountered difficulty given the voluminous documentation required and how the cost would be around €100,000.

Mr Dillon was not present at the latest hearing as he was in hospital.

Ms Cáitín Ní Ghormáin BL, for Cassidys, said: “The discovery is being processed by the third party at the moment but as there is such large documents in the discovery it is taking quite a while with scanning. I understand there has been an inordinate delay before the Court but that is the explanation I have been given.”

The Cassidys defendants in the case relate to Cassidy Brothers Concrete Products Limited, Cassidy Brothers Topmix Limited, Moyle Plant Limited and Cranford Concrete Plant Products Limited.

Mr Justice Sanfey asked that details of the third-party specialist handling the document discovery be furnished to Coleman Legal.

He said: “This has gone on long enough and it is not terribly satisfactory to be told that the reason why a third party service provider hasn't observed the orders of the Court is because there is a lot of documentation, I would have thought that is the reason you use a third party service provider. I think it is time that this was brought to a head.”

Mr Clarke added that it was necessary for NSAI experts and experts from the plaintiffs to attend at the Cassidys quarry to retake water samples and Mr Justice Sanfey said “it makes no sense not to accommodate that request”.