Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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477. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of staff currently working in the National Market Surveillance Office. [57072/25]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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478. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of staff are currently working for the National Building Control Office. [57073/25]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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479. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of construction product types the NMSO and NBCO are responsible for. [57074/25]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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480. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of the staff working for the NMSO and the NBCO who work for both offices, that is, the number of staff simultaneously working for both offices. [57075/25]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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481. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government given that the NMSO was facing a national emergency according to two newspaper articles (details supplied) if the NMSO is now satisfied that they have sufficient staff to carry out their duties properly in the national office. [57076/25]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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482. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the NMSO is satisfied that their staff in local authorities are competent to carry out MSO activities with regard to concrete construction products. [57077/25]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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483. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he and the NMSO is satisfied that the NMSO will prevent any more new builds from having defective concrete going forward. [57078/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482 and 483 together.

The Construction Products Regulations ((EU) No 305/2011 (CPR) and (CPR (EU) 2024/3110) set out rules for the marketing of construction products, including concrete blocks, cement and aggregates for concrete, in the EU.

Each Member State is responsible for regulating for its own market surveillance activities in accordance with the specific requirements of the CPR and the broader overarching requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on market surveillance and compliance of products and amending Directive 2004/42/EC and Regulations (EC) No 765/2008 and (EU) No 305/2011.

Under the European Union (Construction Products) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No.225 of 2013), each of the building control authorities (local authorities) have been designated as the market surveillance authorities for construction products that fall within the scope of the CPR, within their administrative areas.

In 2020, Dublin City Council (through the National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office, NBCMSO) was appointed as the competent authority for the carrying out of market surveillance functions on a nationwide basis. For further information and detail annual strategies see .

Building control authorities liaise with NBCMSO national market surveillance unit to support compliance with the CPR and to determine appropriate action on enforcement matters, as they arise.

The National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office (NSCMSO) is a shared service hosted by Dublin City Council. It provides oversight, support and direction for the development, standardisation and implementation of building control as an effective shared service in the 31 Building Control Authorities, through the five pillars of training, inspections; compliance support; Information System - Building Control Management System (IS-BCMS) and market surveillance.

There are currently 35 product areas set out in Annex IV of the CPR, including Aggregates, Masonry products etc., which fall under the remit of NBCMSO as a National Market Surveillance Authority.

In respect of staffing, under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he / she is responsible. As such information on staffing and recruitment would be available directly from Dublin City Council.

The National Building Control and Market Surveillance Steering Group within the County and City Management Association (CCMA) governance structures provides strategic oversight and governance including agreement of the work programme, ensuring the availability of adequate resources and funding, and monitoring/reporting on progress and budgets to support the NBCMSO. The issue of resources for market surveillance within the local government sector is currently under consideration by the steering group.

In addition, my Department has agreed an Memo of Understanding with the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE)/Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), to provide geological services and expertise to support market surveillance of construction products emanating from the extractive industries sector in Ireland, and advance research and standards development for relevant aggregate and concrete products, in the context of legacy defects in construction products from quarries.

Separately, to support compliance, my Department published ‘A Guide to the marketing and use of Aggregate Concrete Blocks to EN 771-3 in Ireland’ in 2022. This Guide provides guidance to economic operators (manufacturers, importers and distributors) on the marketing of aggregate concrete blocks to EN 771-3 standard. It also outlines the responsibilities of specifiers, designers, builders, certifiers and end users for compliance with the Building Regulations 1997 to 2024.

My Department has also requested relevant stakeholders (Construction Industry Federation, Irish Concrete Federation, Solas and HomeBond) to collaborate on the development of a programme of training to raise awareness and support compliance with the CPR and Building Regulations in respect of masonry construction. The training programme is intended for those who are actively involved in the construction industry including, but not limited to, specifiers, architects, designers, project managers, site managers, engineers, assigned certifiers and tradesmen.

Ireland is also actively participating at European level in the revision of European standards and is sharing its experience regarding technical issues associated with the harmonised technical specifications and regulatory needs.

Finally, work is also underway to establish a building standards regulator to strengthen the oversight role of the State with the aim of further reducing the risk of building failures and enhancing public confidence in construction-related activity. The objective is to ensure that this regulator has sufficient breadth of scope, effective powers of inspection and enforcement, and an appropriate suite of sanctions.