A MAN whose 20-year-old son died in bed on Christmas morning 2008 after inhaling gas central heating emissions has called on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to make carbon monoxide alarms compulsory in all new homes.
Cathal Hughes, a businessman based in Westport, Co Mayo, told an inquest in Castlebar his son Padraig would still be alive if his gas provider had not withheld information on the availability of such alarms.
“I never knew such an alarm existed,” Mr Hughes said in a statement which was read to the inquest by his legal representative, Eoin Garavan.
Padraig Hughes was found dead in bed at about 9.30am on December 25th, 2008. His twin sister, Emma, who later made a full recovery, was unconscious in bed in an adjacent room.
Yesterday’s inquest, which was conducted by the coroner for south Mayo, John O’Dwyer, heard carbon monoxide had entered both bedrooms through a fractured flue pipe while the Hughes family were asleep at their home at Rosbeg, Westport.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Mr Garavan read the statement by the victim’s father, in which he stated that in 20 years of receiving supplies from his gas provider he had never once received literature about the availability of carbon monoxide alarms.
He continued: “Contrast this with how British Gas – the biggest provider of carbon monoxide alarms in Britain – operates.
“For gas companies to withhold safety information on such an important issue reflects badly on the people who run these companies. My son would be alive today if this information was not withheld.
“There is no regulation in relation to gas installations in Ireland. How many people have to die before the Minister for the Environment regulates and in particular makes it a regulation that these alarms are installed in all new homes?”
Mr Hughes warned: “The issue will not be going away.
“People should be made aware of the safety issues. Withholding safety information is not an option.
“It is time the Minister and the department started to regulate on gas installation. No other family should have to go through what we experienced on Christmas morning, 2008.”
Mr Hughes was also critical of the fact that his call to the 999 emergency number was not answered after he “let the phone ring for an eternity”.
He described this as “both appalling and totally unacceptable”, and demanded an overhaul of the service.
The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.