Ms Sarah Neary:

There are 70 authorised officers across the State to carry out this work. While the report was carried out in 2017 a lot of work had happened before that. There were key milestones when the construction products regulation came into effect in 2013. All the work that was done on the standard recommendations, which basically bridged the gap between the standards that came from Europe and what gave additional guidance as to what was required in Ireland in order to meet those standards. A huge amount of work has been done on guidance for economic operators, builders, specifiers and all the stakeholders in the construction industry. In parallel, the role of local authorities in market surveillance was strengthened through the additional role of the NBCO, leadership and co-ordination, and the upskilling and training of building control officers and market surveillance officers. It is a work in progress and there is more to do.