Ms Sarah Neary:

To deal with some of the recommendations made in Ms Hegarty's report, the Building Regulations Advisory Board, BRAB, was finished in 2012. It was part of a wider programme of reducing the numbers of agencies and independent bodies. From 2012 we were working on the new building control regulations that were introduced in 2014. There was extensive public consultation on them; there were high level working groups both in the Department and the local authorities and extensive consultation with the industry. Much of that work has continued in the review and implementation of the BCAR. Yesterday there was a meeting with industry representatives. Even a year after the BCAR was introduced in 2015, there was another public consultation process. We consider that there is good communication between various sectors in how building control legislation is evolving.

On market surveillance, the building control authorities are the market surveillance authorities. There is a framework in place that explains the roles and responsibilities and processes involved. Ms Hegarty mentioned the RAPEX notices, a number of which have been issued. We liaise with our European counterparts and anything of relevance is disseminated through building control authorities. Our market surveillance is largely on a reactive basis, but in the past few years we have carried out market surveillance projects each year on a number of products.

Regarding the building regulations and standards not being sufficient, a huge amount of work goes into developing the technical guidance documents on the regulations in order that they can be communicated across the industry. Since 2014 we have seen an increasing number of queries about the interpretation of the technical guidance documents. They are being read and used probably more than ever before.

On the training of building control officers and training across the industry - the RIAI might explain what it is doing in that regard - there is a huge amount of training being carried out on various aspects of the building regulations and inspections. Competency is ensured through the three regulated professions.

As regards the building control management project, the lead local authority has been established in Dublin City Council. It provides a central governance and oversight structure for building control officers across the country.

The lead local authority is embedded in Dublin City Council. Three regional committees have been established and meetings are taking place on a quarterly basis. It is a very important opportunity to disseminate the national position and provide upward feedback from building control officers relating to what they are finding on the ground. This is all in the interest of increasing consistency across the country and establishing a better understanding of the detail in the guidance documents and how to achieve compliance.

Deputy Ó Broin referred to inspections of residential and commercial buildings, the more risky buildings, if you like. The task force recommended that fire safety inspections should be carried out by competent people from the local authority. That is very much embedded in the building control management project. I will not go into the policy around the inspections process but our goal is risk-based targeted inspections. We have several measures in place and much work has been undertaken this year to set methodologies and policies around identifying the risk. We have discussed some of those previously. That creates a situation where one can identify risk and target the buildings that are most at risk.

I would be happy to deal with the matter of mould on another occasion. As Mr. Lemass noted in his opening statement, there are three parts to the regulations that deal with preventing mould occurring in buildings. If one looks at the underlying causes of mould growth, it is either one of two things. It can be ingressive water from the outside or from the ground and cold areas in buildings. The ingressive water is dealt with under part C of the regulations which are designed to prevent ground water rising into a building or rain water getting into a building. Part L deals with limiting thermal bridging which are cold spots in buildings which, given certain conditions, would facilitate the growth of mould or condensation on a surface. Proper ventilation in the building is also fundamental to preventing these. We often see situations where vents are blocked up or not used properly or mechanical systems not being maintained properly. These are all contributory factors. Occupant behaviour is a huge aspect. I would welcome an opportunity to discuss it in more detail later.