Mr. Se?n Armstrong:

I thank members for the opportunity to address the joint committee on building regulations and building control reforms, and how these can contribute to climate action targets. I am joined by Ms Sarah Neary, Mr. John Wickham and Ms Margaret Power.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is implementing a range of ambitious decarbonisation actions for housing. These are outlined in the climate action plan for 2023. The delivery of affordable and quality housing under Housing for All and addressing climate action are the two key challenges for Government at this time. Housing for All takes account of our climate action targets though the following policies. The implementation of nearly zero energy buildings, NZEB, through our building regulations will ensure that all new housing delivered under Housing for All is typically A-rated and that we will also build healthy, sustainable and durable buildings suitable for the Irish climate, both today and into the future. The Department's retrofitting programme for local authority housing is an essential measure to tackle energy poverty and provide good comfort levels for the local authority tenants. The Department plans to retrofit approximately 26%, or 36,500, local authority dwellings not currently performing to a building energy rating of B2 to the B2, or cost-optimal level, by 2030 at an estimated cost of approximately €1.2 billion.

In conjunction with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, we are also working hard to implement a range of measures to support modern methods of construction under Housing for All, which includes timber-frame dwellings. As part of these initiatives, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will publish plans and guidance documents shortly to enable a significant increase in the delivery of local authority housing in 2023 using modern methods of construction.

The Department has lead responsibility for the energy performance of buildings directive in Ireland. Since the first enactment of the energy performance of buildings directive in 2002, Ireland has implemented the building energy rating, BER, system for new and existing buildings that are rented or sold since 2007. Just over 1 million dwellings now have BERs. We have introduced requirements for NZEBs, for buildings other than dwellings in 2017 and dwellings in 2019. As a result of these NZEB performance requirements, heat pumps are now installed in 86% of new dwellings. It is expected that all fossil fuel boilers will be fully phased out of new dwellings by the end of next year.

We have set the building regulations performance requirement for major renovations where more than 25% of the surface area of a building is renovated to a B2 rating or to achieve the cost-optimal level. We have also set the requirement that electric vehicle charging infrastructure be installed in all new dwellings with a car parking space within the curtilage, new buildings or buildings undergoing major renovation with more than ten parking spaces in 2021 and in certain existing non-residential buildings from 2025. We have introduced regulations that allow efficient district heating systems using unavoidable waste heat to fulfil the renewable requirements of Part L of the building regulations.

We support the proposals for the review of the energy performance of buildings directive that also align with the climate action plan and Housing for All. We are supportive of the proposals for zero emissions buildings, minimum energy performance standards for existing buildings, declarations of life cycle global warming potential for new buildings and further requirements for electric vehicle recharging infrastructure. Ireland will commence the transposition of this directive after it is adopted by the European Union institutions this summer.

The European Commission has initiated a review of the construction products regulation, CPR, confirmed by the European green deal and the circular economy action plan. A revised CPR will address environmental aspects of construction products and will bring into effect a harmonised method for assessing and communicating the environmental performance of construction products. These policies will be implemented through the European Communities Acts regulations, and our building regulations and will be underpinned by our building control system.

In the context of building control reform, a range of initiatives that focus on ensuring strong and effective regulation in the building control system and the construction industry and on improving compliance with building regulations have been implemented since 2014. This includes: implementation of the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, SI No. 9/2014, which empower competence and professionalism in construction projects and establish a chain of responsibility that begins with the owner; the creation of the national building control management project and the establishment of the National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office to provide oversight, support and direction for the development, standardisation and implementation of building control as an effective shared service in the 31 building control authorities; and the enactment in July 2022 of the Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022. This Act develops and promotes a culture of competence, good practice and compliance with the building regulations in the construction sector. The Act will place the Construction Industry Register Ireland on a statutory footing and aims to benefit consumers and the general public by giving those who engage a registered builder the assurance that they are dealing with a competent and compliant operator.

To further strengthen the building control system, the Department and Minister are developing proposals for the establishment of an independent building standards regulator. The objective is to ensure that this body will have sufficient breadth of scope, effective powers of inspection and enforcement and an appropriate suite of sanctions available to it. Having a strong and effective building control system and statutory register requiring minimum competence for providers of building services will support development of the skills required to achieve the climate action plan targets for buildings relating to retrofitting, installation of renewable energy sources and NZEBs.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is committed to the implementation of ambitious targets in buildings for climate action through building regulations and the next iteration of the energy performance of buildings directive. We are happy to address any questions the committee may have.