Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 215: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation with regards to the level of pyrite acceptable in quarry stones as set out by the National Standards Authority of Ireland in SR21, the reason the NSAI so far has not moved to the latest international guidelines which require a lower standard of pyrite in quarry stones, as the UK have done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11290/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) that the quarry material that gave rise to the presence of reactive pyrite in houses was a fill material used beneath ground floor concrete slabs. The NSAI published the product standard associated with this material, which is I.S. EN 13242:2002 + A1 2007 (Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in civil engineering work and road construction). This standard is a harmonized European standard mandated under the Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC). In addition to this European standard, NSAI has published a supplementary guidance document S.R. 21:2004 + A1 2007 which is a guidance document for the application in Ireland of the previously mentioned European standard.

NSAI have informed me that the standard does not address the issue of the presence of pyrite in aggregates nor does it prescribe a test to make such a determination or to set limits on its presence. Given the absence of particular requirements for pyrite in the European standard and in keeping with CEN (European Standards body) regulations, NSAI is restricted as to the extent to which the pyrite issue can be addressed through its publication S.R. 21. However, in response to an intervention by the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in order to address industry concerns with regard to pyrite, NSAI agreed to amend S.R. 21 in 2007, in order to provide advisory guidance to specifiers and producers of aggregate with regard to the type of aggregate material to be used for fill purposes.

NSAI understand that the issues of presence of or tests for pyrite in quarry stones have not been addressed by the British Standards Institute (BSI) through its national publication of the European standard (BS) EN 13242 or through the BSI's accompanying UK guidance document BS PD 6682-6 (Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in civil engineering works and road construction – Guidance on the use of BS EN 13242).

The national Building Regulations are the responsibility of the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government. I understand that the relevant Technical Guidance Document (TGD-C) to the Building Regulations was amended to reference the amended NSAI SR, and give it practical effect in the context of building works. A copy of the relevant amendment to TGD-C is available at www.environ.ie.