Tests show Donegal concrete blocks breaching EU regulations

Concrete blocks produced in Donegal in recent months have tested for having three times the level of pyrrhotite that is allowed under EU standards, the European Commission has been told.

Defective blocks campaigners from Donegal have told the European Commission that levels of pyrrhotite in blocks produced in the county is still a major issue.

Earlier this year research was published in an international journal that concluded that the mineral pyrrhotite, and not mica, is the primary cause of defective concrete blocks found in thousands of homes in Donegal.

Two of the authors of the article, Dr Andreas Leemann of Empa, the Swiss federal laboratory, and Professor Paul Dunlop of Ulster University, were among the delegation that gave a presentation to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Grow).

Members of the directorate were told during a presentation by defective blocks campaigners who travelled to Brussels last week that a sample of blocks bought in Donegal in December returned the readings for high levels of pyrrhotite.

The delegation, which also included Lisa Hone of the Mica Action Group, and defective blocks homeowners Dr Eileen Doherty and Joe Morgan, is now preparing to lodge a complaint with the European Commission over the Irish State’s failure to act properly in preventing the defective blocks crisis. If the complaint is upheld, it could result in infringement proceedings being taken against the Irish State by the EU Commission.

Dr Doherty said the lab results of the testing, which was carried out by someone in the construction industry and brought to the attention of the group, have been handed over to the European Commission. She said the test report shows that the production of defective blocks is not a historic issue.

“This issue is still ongoing, so that is critical to this discussion - that we have no confidence that this issue is a legacy issue,” she said.

“We have a clear pathway now to put together a formal complaint and that is exactly what we are going to do.”

“We went there to inform them, to seek their advice and guidance on how to proceed and to tell them as well that we plan to submit a formal complaint against the Irish State around ineffective market surveillance and [how] that has contributed to the defective blocks issue.”

Joe Morgan said the primary objective of the engagement with the European Commission is ensuring that there is effective market surveillance concerning concrete products in Ireland.

He said the group has been told that a previous presentation it made in December 2021 has led to moves to update EU regulations on market surveillance “to look to improve them to protect the consumer going forward”.

One improvement is to “mandate a minimum level of resourcing for market surveillance offices across member States”.

Mr Morgan said the group will be working to make its case for a complaint stronger over the next two months.

“Ultimately the endgame here is we are going to submit that complaint. It needs to come with a lot more evidence. We have some but we need to get more.”