A High Court judge has made an order closing a building site in Co Kerry after describing conditions at the site as "sub-standard" and "frightening".
Mr Justice Peter Kelly made the remark when granting an injunction restraining any further work on the site at Barrnasraide, Ballyheige. He returned the matter to a sitting on Monday.
The injunction was sought by the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health against John A Casey, Project Management Ltd.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Kelly said Mr Padraic McMahon, an inspector with the authority, had since last April carried out inspections of the site and found there had been persistent breaches of safety regulations.
Photo exhibits handed into court were "frightening" in so far as they depicted truly sub-standard working conditions, he said.
It was providential that there had not been a fatality or serious injury caused to the workmen involved, some of whom were shown in very precarious positions on top of buildings working without any supports or any form of safety devices or protection to ensure they did not fall.
Mr Justice Kelly said it was quite clearly a case where the defendant had been given many opportunities to put right, through negotiations, the matter involved. Unfortunately, he appeared not to have taken his responsibilities seriously.
Earlier, Ms Siobhán Phelan, for the authority, said the inspector had found a worker climbing a scaffold with no safe access in the form of a ladder. He had also found a scaffold that was of unsound footing in that it was leaning away from a gable of a building.
The inspector also observed members of the public having a look around the site and persons working at heights of greater than two metres without measures in place to prevent falls.