Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I extend a warm welcome to the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Calleary. It is great to see him in the House and I congratulate him on his appointment. I know I join with all colleagues across this House in wishing him well in the future. I thank him for coming to the House to take this Commencement matter in the name of Senator Ahearn relating to the review of Ireland's furniture fire regulations.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, to the Chamber. It is my first opportunity to congratulate him on his new role and position. I thank him for taking this Commencement matter. I acknowledge the good work he and his Department did last week in regard to the budget and supporting business over what is going to be an uncertain time during the winter months.

I had a meeting a number of weeks ago with Mr. Patrick Fox from the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, BSEF, on fire regulations. The BSEF is based in Brussels but works in regulations throughout Europe. There is an opening in Ireland, essentially because of Brexit, and our Irish fire furniture regulations might be changing. We are in a position at the moment where our current regulations are very much in line with the UK. They are very safe and very good and there are many restrictions in place for furniture that can be produced and sold in Ireland. The fear is the regulations might change to be more in line with the EU. The worry with that is that research has shown that regulations within the EU and the US are not to the same standard as those of Ireland and the UK. There is a worry that because we are part of the European Union and Brexit has happened, we will try to move more in line with EU regulations. There is certainly a fear from the sector and the industry that that might be a bad thing.

This is really to get some clarity from the Minister of State's and the Department's perspective on where and how this is going and whether open dialogue and consultation between both sides can continue while that process is happening. There are a couple of things the industry wanted to get across on the regulations in place at the moment. It is its understanding that the intention is to review the furniture fire regulations but that any updates to Ireland's regulations should continue to guarantee current high fire safety levels through the comprehensive legislation, the robust standards and the stringent testing regimes, including the import of furniture from third countries. The Irish regulations and standards are based on those of the UK and are deemed to be almost identical by standards experts. The fire fatality rate for the UK and Ireland is approximately half of that of continental Europe and the USA. A defining characteristic is testing of furniture materials with both a smouldering and open flame ignition. It found the changes to testing regimes in the US, such as removing the open flame testing, suggested an increase in domestic fire mortalities and, therefore, advised caution with any of these reviews.

I do not know if the Minister of State has had an opportunity to see a visual representation of two rooms, one done to EU and US regulations and another done to UK and Irish regulations, where a fire is started at the same time in both rooms and to see how quickly one room develops into a terrible situation while in the other room, the fire progresses but at a much slower rate, giving a much better chance for people to vacate the room and the building. It is a genuine concern from its perspective but I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, who has four minutes to respond.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairperson and Senator Ahearn for their good wishes. I look forward to working with Seanad Éireann as much as possible in my new role. I thank Senator Ahearn for the opportunity to provide an update on the important matter of the review of Irish furniture fire regulations.I thank Senator Ahearn for the opportunity to provide an update on the important matter of the review of Irish furniture fire regulations. My Department undertook public consultation on the current Irish furniture fire regulations in 2019, which was subsequently extended to April 2020 owing to complications arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of the consultation was to examine the scope of the regulations, their enforceability and the effectiveness of the testing regime.

As the Senator has said, in the area of furniture fire safety, there are no harmonised EU regulations. In Ireland, SI 316/1995 Industrial Research and Standards (Fire Safety) (Domestic Furniture) Order, 1995 and Irish Standard 419:2011 set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture, furnishings, and other products that contain upholstery in the interests of fire safety. These are collectively known as the Irish furniture fire regulations.

The Irish standards and regulations were introduced to protect consumers by preventing the rapid spread of a fire started on or near furniture. The regulations specify that use of flame retardants to hinder the spread of fire and furniture must meet the requirements for resistance to cigarettes and match ignition. As the Senator has said, the Irish regulations set out a more robust safety standard that applies in other EU member states in order to provide a high level of safety in this area. The Irish furniture fire regulations have been on the Statute Book for over 25 years, and since then, there have been several developments that may have a bearing on their current suitability, including changes in consumer expectations and in furniture manufacturing practices.

My Department received numerous supplies to the consultation. Due to competing realities including the response to pandemic and work another priority legislation, progress on the assessment of submissions was delayed. Analysis of the submissions has, however, resumed and these replies are now being studied in detail in order to form the basis of recommendations on the future of the Irish furniture fire regulations.

I expect this process to be completed in the near future. I will be more than happy if the Senator wishes arrived to me to have his feedback included in the process. I will happily inform the Senator and the House when I have an update in this regard.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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There is an understandable fear when reviews are put in place that changes could be made when we recognise that Irish safety standards are more robust than those that apply in other EU states. What we want to do is maintain that. It is true that there have been changes in consumer expectations and furniture manufacturing practices. That has to be recognised and changes have to be made but we need to stick by the same kind of safety standards that we have at the moment, that is the most important thing. I look forward to working with the Minster of State on this to make sure that it is done correctly and to ensure that the voices of people with an interest in this issue from a safety perspective are heard.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I want to assure the Senator that the consultation assessment is finalising at the moment. We will be back with proposals. I extend the invitation to him to submit his remarks to me and I will forward them on to the relevant officials.