Ms Geraldine Larkin:

I thank the committee for the invitation to assist in its consideration of the issues under discussion today. I am the chief executive officer of the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI. I am accompanied by my colleagues, Enda McDonnell, director of standards, and Ken Murphy, standards officer. We are here to assist the committee in its work and to address any questions it might have on the review of IS 465.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the homeowners and the impact that issues with defective concrete blocks have had on them. I assure all stakeholders that the NSAI acknowledges the urgency around the review of IS 465 and that every effort to expedite work while maintaining integrity of process on this crucial issue is being made. In the interest of time, I will restrict my opening statement to providing updates on the progression of work with regard to the review of IS 465 since we met with the committee last July.

In November last year, preliminary findings from two primary research programmes managed by Geological Survey Ireland, GSI, to establish the long-term impact of pyrrhotite in walls, rising walls

and foundations were received by the defective concrete blocks technical matters steering group, which is chaired by the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government. These findings were promptly circulated to NSAI technical committee 63 concrete blocks, which is comprised of all stakeholders, including homeowners, for review and discussion. The findings were also circulated at the same time to the committee working group focused on the more in-depth evaluation of any research presented to the wider committee to facilitate the prompt incorporation of these interim findings into the review process for IS 465. The wider committee and the working group have met a combined eight times since the interim findings were made available at the end of November. Further meetings of both groups are already planned to include further consultation with research groups.

NSAI previously committed to issuing interim findings from these deliberations should this be considered useful or proportionate and where experts agree it would be of benefit to stakeholders. Work on drafting such interim guidance is under way and will take the form of an amendment to IS 465 to enhance the sampling and testing protocols within the standard, taking account of all available findings to date, including the initial research output relating to internal sulphate attack. To expedite the drafting process for the amendment, the task has been undertaken by the working group and this draft will be presented to the main committee members for further development as soon as a substantive draft is ready for consideration. The current estimation is that the amendment will be out for public consultation later this year.

This amendment will serve as a step forward in the review and development process of IS 465. However, the full evaluation of IS 465 continues to be reliant on the delivery of the final outputs of key research projects, including those from the GSI research partners, the evaluation by the committee of all expert information provided to it and the subsequent completion of the standardisation process in accordance with the NSAI’s best practice procedures.

Research projects relating to IS 465 are expected to be concluded in quarter 4 of 2024 or quarter 1 of 2025. The process to complete a standard's development requires approximately six months following the conclusion of the consideration of any relevant research data. This six-month timeline includes a public consultation period and the committee’s subsequent consideration of those submissions in parallel with its own deliberations before finalising its findings. Should there be a delay in the conclusion of the research, this will impact on the timelines for conclusion of the revision of IS 465.

In summary, NSAI understands fully its important role on these standards and all standards developed by its technical committees right across the broad spectrum of standards for construction.

It should be noted that this substantial programme of research and analysis requires adequate time to facilitate careful consideration of all the relevant technical input by utilising the experience and expertise of the voluntary members of NSAI TC73, representing a wide range of stakeholders, including homeowners, to deliver on this crucial work.

I trust this statement has given an overview of our work and we are happy to assist the committee with any further questions members may have.