The High Court awarded Patrick Duffy €1,095,120 and Anita Duffy €824,435 after finding that their injuries were caused by exposure to spray foam chemicals during insulation work at their home in Annagry, Co Donegal. The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Kevin Cross on 4 December 2020.
The couple had engaged Brendan McGee, trading as McGee Insulation Services, to install Icynene insulation in February 2016. The court found that McGee failed to tell them they had to leave during spraying and for at least two hours afterwards, failed to secure the property, and did not calculate or ensure the ventilation rate required for safe re-entry. It also found that Mrs Duffy and their young daughter were in the house during spraying, and that the family returned and stayed overnight before the required ventilation had been established.
The judgment said the foam could be used safely if the required precautions were followed. For the low-VOC product used in the house, people could return after two hours only if the specified rate of 40 air changes per hour had been achieved during spraying and for the following two hours. The court found that adequate ventilation had not been established and that chemicals from the roof insulation probably caused the couple’s serious, lasting airway injuries. It found Mr Duffy was exposed after returning from work and Mrs Duffy during the day and overnight.
The court dismissed the claim against GMS Insulations Limited, the distributor, after finding there was no evidence against it. It rejected the installer’s contributory-negligence argument, finding the couple had not been adequately told to leave. It also rejected the defendants’ application to dismiss the claims under section 26 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, finding no basis to conclude that either plaintiff had knowingly given false or misleading evidence.
The awards included €400,000 in general damages for each plaintiff, covering pain and suffering to date and into the future. Mr Duffy’s award also included €500,000 for past and future loss of earnings. Mrs Duffy received €100,000 for loss of job opportunity. Her award included €65,000 for the reduction in the home’s value attributed to reputational damage and €40,000 towards the additional cost of building a house using materials considered less likely to cause problems. The court said the separate property-value proceedings had already been struck out with costs against the plaintiff.