Mr. Paul Lemass:

I thank the joint committee for its invitation to attend the hearing. I am happy to respond to it to address the committee on the topic of housing standards, with specific reference to fire safety and damp. I am joined by colleagues Mr. John Barry, Mr. Conor O’Sullivan and Ms Sarah Neary from the Department's national directorate for fire and emergency management and the building standards unit. The national directorate for fire and emergency management, NDFEM, was established in 2009 and operates under a management board structure within the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. It has a mandate to develop consistent, effective, quality and value for money fire services to protect communities from fire. It includes developing national policies and standards and supporting and overseeing their implementation at local level. Additionally, the directorate has a role in developing arrangements for co-ordinating emergency responses across government services and has led national level responses as the lead government body in the case of severe weather events such as Storm Ophelia and Storm Emma. In the nine years since its inception the management board of the NDFEM has made significant progress in aligning national and local efforts around common public safety objectives.

I will focus on recent work undertaken by the NDFEM, following the tragic fire in Grenfell Tower in London. On 27 June last year, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and in recognition of concerns arising about fire safety in Ireland, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, tasked the NDFEM with convening and co-ordinating a high level task force to lead a reappraisal of fire safety in Ireland. Earlier this year the Government approved the publication of the fire safety task force report and a summary of conclusions and recommendations. As well as making a range of recommendations to improve provisions for fire safety, the task force found, following a country-wide review of medium to high rise buildings, that the combination of contributory factors which appeared to have existed in Grenfell Tower did not seem to be present in medium to high rise buildings in Ireland. However, fire safety improvement works are ongoing in 35 buildings where assessments were required.

The report also found that the experience of actual fires gave confidence that the fire safety strategy was appropriate and effective in protecting the lives of persons living in medium to high rise buildings. The activation of fire detection and alarm systems, the effective evacuation of premises, the success of compartmentation and construction in containing fire and the efficacy of the fire service response are all part of the current recommended approach to life safety in medium to high rise buildings. The task force also found that the assessment by local authorities of fire safety measures in their existing multi-storey, multi-unit social housing provided considerable reassurance of the standard of fire safety within this profile of social housing building stock. At the time of publication of the report, almost 95% of units had been found to have appropriate facilities and the assessment process had resulted in improvements works in the remaining units, where necessary. The task force has recommended that national oversight be maintained of the fire safety assessment process under way in 219 medium to high rise buildings and that emergent issues be dealt with and an oversight report provided for the Minister at the end of the process.

A further recommendation of the task force concerns the statutory responsibilities of the person having control of premises, as set out in section 18 of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. This emerged as a key focus for the task force which proposes a number of amendments to the current regulatory system to enhance and ensure fire safety in certain categories of buildings, in particular, in residential and sleeping accommodation, which is identified as a priority area for fire safety efforts. The legislative amendments proposed by the task force seek to clarify and strengthen the statutory obligations imposed on the person having control and introduce new reporting mechanisms through which the fire safety arrangements in place in premises will be brought to the attention of the public. To ensure persons having control of premises take action to fulfil their statutory obligations, the task force also recommends that a revised focus on enforcement be put in place in parallel to address any disregard for fire safety considerations.

The Minister has accepted the recommendations made in the task force's report and mandated the management board of the NDFEM to carry through on the recommendations within his direct ambit and oversee and report on the implementation of other recommendations. At its meeting on 13 September the management board of the NDFEM agreed to establish a fire safety sub-committee and working structure which would undertake the work arising from the report of the task force. Progress will be reported to the Minister by the NDFEM management board. I note that the report concludes that the overall composition of Ireland’s fire safety system is appropriate and generally fit for purpose.

I turn to housing standards and fire safety. Part B, fire safety, of the second schedule to the building regulations sets out the legal requirements in respect of fire safety in new buildings, including dwellings, as well as existing buildings which are undergoing works which involve an extension, material alteration or certain material changes of use. The Part B technical guidance document B, TGD B, on fire safety is under review. In the interests of clarity, I note that the technical guidance document has been split into separate volumes. Volume 1 deals with all buildings, other than dwelling houses, while volume 2 deals exclusively with dwelling houses. On 1 July 2017 the Building Regulations (Part B Amendment) Regulations 2017, SI 57/2017, and Technical Guidance Document B Fire Safety – Volume 2 – Dwelling Houses (2017) were published and came into force. Work is still ongoing on buildings, other than dwelling houses, and the next step in the process will be to issue draft amendments to Part B and a draft version of Technical Guidance Document B Fire Safety – Volume 1 – Buildings other than Dwelling Houses for public consultation. Until the full review is complete, however, the current requirements and guidance for all buildings, other than dwelling houses, including apartment buildings, are set out in the Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations 2006, SI 115/2006, and the relevant parts of Technical Guidance Document B Fire Safety (2006), respectively.

Building control regulations require a fire safety certificate to be obtained for new buildings, with some exceptions, and certain works to existing buildings. The fire safety certificate ensures that the building or works, if constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications submitted, comply with the requirements of Part B. As such, an application is examined technically by the chief fire officer or building control authority for compliance with Part B. This may be on the basis of technical guidance document B or through alternative approaches to providing fire safety.

Regarding damp, Part C on site preparation and resistance to moisture, Part F on ventilation and Part L on conservation of fuel and energy of the Second Schedule to the building regulations set performance requirements to prevent the passage of moisture into the building, ensure adequate ventilation and limit heat loss. The associated technical guidance provides practical advice on limiting thermal bridging, ensuring adequate ventilation and avoiding rising damp.

I look forward to hearing the views of committee members and I am happy to answer whatever questions they may have on our areas of work.