In 2002, my wife and I bought a house in a new housing estate in the
Southside  of Dublin. We employed a structural engineer who as part of
his report checked the entire house plus foundations of the new house
in 2000 and it was of the opinion that the entire house and
foundations were fine and issued us with a report to that effect. I
have know been informed that between 2002 and 2004, the house has sunk
four feet into the ground.

My wife was injured in June 2004, when a tile fell from the roof of
the house and hit her head. She had a sore head for a few days but
thought nothing of it. She would get mild headaches on and off for a
period after that. However, from June 2005, she has started to have
really bad headaches on a daily basis. She consulted doctor
immediately and was told that the cause of the headaches was the tile
falling from the roof and we have another report from another doctor
aswell to that effect..

My wife wants to pursue an action against this structural engineer
company, on the basis of negligence in not spotting a fault in the
house foundations.

Could someone outline the strengths and weaknesses of this case
with relevant common law case judgements.