Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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284. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to provide additional financial support under the pyrite remediation scheme to help homeowners cover the cost of initial investigative tests for pyrite; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32533/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency.

The provisions of the Act apply only to dwellings affected by significant damage attributable to pyritic heave consequent on the presence of reactive pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material and not to damage arising in any other circumstance, e.g. such as pyrite in concrete blocks.

The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” for affected homeowners who have no other practical option to obtain redress and is limited in its application and scope. The full conditions for eligibility under the scheme are set out in the scheme which is available on the Board’s website, www.pyriteboard.ie.

The scheme is applicable to dwellings, which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave established, in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2017 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol. In this regard, it is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment with a Damage Condition Rating of 2. Dwellings which do not have a Damage Condition Rating of 2 are not eligible to apply under the scheme. This ensures that, having regard to the available resources, the focus of the scheme is on dwellings which are most severely damaged by pyritic heave. There are no proposals to provide for further financial assistance outside of the scheme and any proposal to amend the scheme is, in the first instance, a matter for the Pyrite Resolution Board.

The Board may be contacted by phone at Lo call 1890 252842 or by email to: info@pyriteboard.ie, or alternatively at: oireachtasinfo@pyriteboard.ie.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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285. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the changes that have been introduced with respect to the regulation and monitoring of product standards for building blocks since the publication of the Report of the Expert Panel on Defective Blocks in 2017; the measures put in place to ensure that the widespread use of such defective blocks in counties Donegal and Mayo will be prevented in the future; and the role the National Building Control Office now has with respect to ensuring the highest possible standards for building blocks and all other construction material used in residential housing developments. [32560/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In relation to the concrete blocks, the relevant suite of harmonised standard facilitating specification of masonry units is the EN 771 (series). ‘I.S. EN 771-3:2011+A1:2015’deals with aggregate concrete masonry units. In this regard, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), has published additional guidance in the form of ‘S.R. 325:2013+A2:2018/AC:2019 Recommendations for the design of masonry structures in Ireland to Eurocode 6’ which sets out appropriate minimum performance levels for specific intended uses of, inter alia, EN 771(series) in Ireland.

In respect of aggregates for concrete, NSAI has published ‘S.R. 16:2016 Guidance on the use of I.S. EN 12620:2002+A1:2008 - Aggregates for concrete’ which outlines the precautions to be taken in the quarry to reduce the risk of harmful impurities in aggregate production, including the requirement for independent third party oversight of factory production control by a Notified Body (a designated body that carries out third-party tasks).

Specifically relating to product legislation, since 2013, the Construction Products Directive (CPD)- 89/106/EEC has been replaced by the Construction Products Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 (CPR). It sets out rules for the marketing of construction products in the EU. Where a construction product covered by a harmonised standard is being placed on the EU market, the CPR requires the manufacturer to draw up a ‘declaration of performance’ and affix a ‘CE’ marking to the product. In order to do so, manufacturers must test and declare the performance of their construction products using a common technical language prescribed in the harmonised standard.

The manufacturer is responsible for compliance with the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) and in particular for the Declaration of Performance/CE marking of the construction product he/she is placing on the market, having full knowledge of the raw material (as is legally required by the CPR via the relevant harmonised European Standards) and having regard to the end product’s suitability for use in construction works in accordance with the relevant Standard Recommendations published by the NSAI.

Under the European Union (Construction Products) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No.225 of 2013), each of the building control authorities have been designated as the principal market surveillance authorities for construction products that fall within the scope of the CPR, within their administrative areas. In addition, Dublin City Council has been appointed as a competent authority for the carrying out of market surveillance functions across the country and has created a Market Surveillance Unit within Dublin City Council-National Building Control Office, (DCC-NBCO). Building control authorities will liaise with DCC-NBCO national market surveillance unit to support compliance with the CPR and to determine appropriate action on enforcement matters, as they arise.

The National market surveillance programme 2021 provides specific details on the market surveillance of construction products and outlines a market surveillance campaign led by DCC-NBCO, which has recently commenced, to perform risk assessments of selected quarrying and pit operations, follow-up inspections, sampling and testing as appropriate to ensure compliance with the CPR.