Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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We will now consider the EU (Construction Products) Regulations 2013, SI 225 of 2013, and their implications for the standards of construction products being placed on the market in Ireland. Cuirim fáilte roimh Ms Sarah Neary, senior adviser; Mr. Aidan O'Connor, principal adviser; Mr. John Wickham, building adviser; and Mr. Paris Beausang, higher executive officer, who are present on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Gabhaim buíochas leo as bheith i láthair. I draw their attention to the fact that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against a person, persons or an entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. The opening statement and any other document submitted by the delegates to the committee may be published on its website after the meeting. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person, persons or an entity in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

We agreed to consider this issue further as a result of correspondence, dated 4 October, received from Mr. O'Connor. Accordingly, we are anxious to hear and consider how the regulations will be transposed into Irish law and their practical consequences in this country.

Ms Sarah Neary:

I thank the joint committee for giving us the opportunity to present the construction products regulations, CPR, and I hope we will clarify any issue arising in their implementation in Ireland.

There are three areas mentioned in the committee's letter that I want to cover. I will explain briefly the CPR and their legal status and deal with the issue of how they affect the standard of construction products on the market in Ireland.

The main goal of the CPR is to reduce technical barriers to trade across Europe in construction products. The regulations will do this by creating technical specifications or standards for individual construction products. They are written at European level and use common technical language which harmonises test methods, the methods for declaring on performance and the methods used in third party assessment of construction products. Therefore, when they are placed on the market, the characteristics of products should be the same across Europe, whether one is in Sweden, Germany or Ireland.

The CPR make it mandatory, when a product is covered by these specifications or standards, for a declaration of performance to be made and a CE mark will be affixed to the product. The manufacturer is responsible for these and the information contained in them. Once one sees the CE mark on a construction product, one knows it has been through this process and that the information is in accordance with the CPR and any other Union harmonisation legislation applying to it. The CPR envisage everybody across the construction sector using this common technical language. As regulators of the building regulations, we use these standards and specifications. Users will use them to choose between products, while manufacturers will provide the information which can be considered reliable. That is the concept behind the regulations.

In terms of legal status, the regulations were adopted in 2011 and came into effect in Ireland on 1 July this year. They repealed the construction products directive, CPD. They build on many of the instruments established under the CPD. They are in the interests of simplifying and clarifying the use of the CE mark for construction products.

We needed to bring forward national legislation to police the construction products regulations and provide for market surveillance. We can go through these issues in more detail. SI 225 designates local building control authorities as the market surveillance authorities and provides them with powers. It requires them to authorise persons to carry out inspections and investigative work. It also provides for the corrective actions to be taken, if a problem occurs or there is an offence. Defences and penalties are also included. There is market surveillance at a national level in accordance with national regulations. There are also voluntary measures in which we are involved at European level. Where a product is deemed to be high risk, it is dealt with through the provision of a RAPEX notice which is issued by various member states. We can go into that matter in more detail, if the committee wishes.

On the third topic, the impact on the quality of construction products in Ireland, the standards and specifications from the European Union are very different from what we have relied on in national standards.

The European standards harmonise the tests, the assessment methods and the declaration a manufacturer makes but not the performance the product must meet. In this regard the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI, has gone through a process of producing national guidance for some of the European standards to maintain the Irish or British standards we would have been familiar with using here. They have a process in place and are about half way through the harmonised standards issued to date, of which there are approximately 400 or 500, to assess if any more national guidance is needed.

The CE mark is about putting a product on the market. When the product is used, it is the responsibility of the designers or the professionals involved, and the builders, as to how it is used appropriately. That is where the building regulations or the NRA specification come in because they are the national rules that apply. There is a gap between the European system and what we were used to previously with Irish and British standards but the NSAI is in the process of reviewing that.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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May I ask a question before I call Deputy Coffey? Regarding construction products in the market in general, Ms Neary does not have a crystal ball or a monopoly of wisdom on this but with regard to what happened with pyrite and issues such as that, regulations like this will put a squeeze on in terms of the standard of product that arrives in the market but in the likely event - it would have been unlikely at one stage - that there might be a repeat of that, which might not involve quarry stone or whatever, can we take comfort from this measure that those situations are less likely to happen? Is there any assurance with this measure that it might not happen in the future?

Ms Sarah Neary:

The construction products regulation, CPR, sets out who is responsible for what and the vital piece of information is the declaration of performance, DOP, the manufacturer makes about his or her product. Whatever the manufacturer writes in terms of the characteristics of the product in that DOP, he or she must stand over that. If it is found that the product does not meet that performance, that is clearly a non-compliance with the construction products regulation.

In terms of pyrite, that is an interesting one because hardcore will now be CE marked. The NSAI has just concluded a public inquiry on what is known as standard recommendation 21, which provides that national guidance. In terms of the harmonised standard dealing with aggregates like hardcore, there is now a harmonised standard that sets up the test methods, the assessment process and the third parties that must be involved before hardcore can be placed on the market. The NSAI has produced guidance on the specification and the minimum standards for the characteristics of hardcore when it is placed on that market. That provides clarity for the users and for the manufacturers. The manufacturers must declare what those characteristics are and the users can check whether that is what they are getting on site. There is a greater confidence in terms of what is being delivered. The manufacturer is clearly responsible for what he or she says that product can do.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I had a similar query to that asked by the Chairman. In terms of the history in this country, cement production was where much of the problem has arisen but Ms Neary has clarified the implications that might have for that particular sector. However, with the housing boom I am aware that many construction products like window sills, door heads and similar products were made locally in concrete yards and so on. Will all of those small suppliers and manufacturers have to comply in terms of their declarations of performance? Essentially, will all of those products have a CE mark or what process will they go through?

Ms Sarah Neary:

There are two processes to CE marking. One is through a harmonised standard, which is mandatory. Between 400 and 500 standards are published and referred to in the OJ. If someone's product falls within those standards, it must be CE marked from 1 July of this year.

There are derogations from CE marking in certain circumstances. One of the reasons for the CPR was to reduce the burden on small and medium enterprises, SMEs. That part of the CPR has not been elaborated on as of yet by the Commission but the intention is that there will be simplified rules for SMEs.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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It is mainly the load-bearing product that will cause major concern and as I said, it will be manufactured locally without any real regulation or standard. I suspect much of that would have been done over the years but are there any plans in the Department or in terms of policy to have perhaps a clerk of works through the local authority system to examine building standards and building product? It happens in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland where the local authority or a building inspector would call at various stages of a construction and examine it to ensure the product being used is correct, that the steel beams are fire-proofed, that the construction product is good and that everything is up to standard. That does not happen here. Are there any plans in that area?

Ms Sarah Neary:

There is huge reform under way through the building control process. The three main pillars are that when a building is being designed now it must have a full commencement notice, a design certificate that it is in accordance with the building regulations, and a submission of design and compliance drawings. An assigned certifier is then appointed who carries out certain inspections at various critical points in the project and then at the end, a builder and the assigned certifier signs a certificate of completion and compliance with the building regulations. There is major reform in terms of the organisation of construction projects.

Also, in the context of the CPR and construction products themselves being placed on the market, there are five systems of assessment under the CPR ranging from complete manufacturer's declaration of what he or she is doing, and self-certification, to full third party assessment of both the initial testing, the ongoing testing, the factory production control set-up and the factory production control continuous surveillance. Depending on the critical nature of the product, the higher up that scale one goes. That is set at European level, therefore, any fire-related products generally will be at the higher end of the scale.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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If a product is found to be in breach of a regulation or sub-standard, what is the sanction? Where is the enforcement or what happens in that case?

Ms Sarah Neary:

Under the national regulations, SI 225, the local building control authority has been set up as the market surveillance authority. It has a range of powers. It can do spot-checks or react where there is a suspicion that the product is not meeting the performance declared for it, and there is a process for giving the economic operator an opportunity to correct the matter. If he or she does not do that it is escalated to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government who can restrict, recall or ban the product or relabel it for other use, etc. There are also penalties and fines.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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That concludes our consideration. I thank the witnesses for attending this afternoon. We will reflect on the issues and if we have further discussion among ourselves about the exchange, we will be in touch. I thank Ms Neary and her colleagues for attending. We really appreciate it. The witnesses are free to leave.