Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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502. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if funding has been made available for research into the issue of defective blocks by his Department or by the Housing Agency; if so, the amount; the persons or bodies this funding has been awarded to; the nature of the research; when it will be published; and if it will be available to the public. [63611/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Report of the Expert Panel on Concrete Blocks recommends that, due to legacy failures involving construction products and in spite of the current knowledge, further research should be undertaken to gain a greater understanding of the effects of pyrite and excessive amounts of muscovite mica in concrete blocks in order to avoid future adverse effects in buildings.

In February 2021, my Department in collaboration with Geological Survey Ireland, launched an open call for research aimed at supporting the technical advancement of standards relating to the assessment of dwellings damaged by defective concrete blocks and pyritic hardcore. Eight applications were received and following a review process, a research contract for €50,000 was awarded in August 2021 which is expected to be published in Q1 2023.

The project aims to develop a new standard test to assess the potential for pyrite to react and inform a competent person to appropriately assess the levels of risk from pyrite in materials, without relying on assumptions based solely on total sulfur contents. Details are available on the website of Geological Survey Ireland www.gsi.ie/documents/GSI-DHLGH_PyriteProject_web.pdf. It is intended that a technical paper will be submitted for publication in a professional journal following completion of the research project.

My Department is committed to supporting further research, particularly in the area of deleterious material in concrete blocks, the details of which are under active consideration at present.