Asbestos Risk: Management and Governance in Ireland

8 Jan 2026

Although asbestos has been banned in Ireland since 2000, it remains widespread in buildings constructed or refurbished before 2004. Asbestos-related diseases have long latency periods and continue to cause significant mortality in Ireland. Asbestos is frequently encountered during refurbishment, retrofit, demolition, and brownfield redevelopment works, creating exposure, delay, and liability risks if not correctly identified and managed.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the Exposure to Asbestos Regulations 2006–2025, and the Construction Regulations 2013, employers and building owners have a duty to identify asbestos in advance of works and prevent exposure. Failure to do so may result in criminal prosecution, civil claims, project shutdowns, and reputational damage. There is no defence based on lack of knowledge where surveys should reasonably have been undertaken.

EU Directive 2023/2668 significantly tightens expectations by reducing the occupational exposure limit to 0.01 fibres/cm³ and prioritising asbestos removal over long-term management where technically feasible. While Ireland has not imposed a mandatory deadline for total removal, regulators increasingly expect time-bound removal strategies rather than indefinite ‘management in place’. Decisions taken now will be judged against higher future standards.

Asbestos represents a long-tail risk with potential for unplanned costs, programme delays, insurance difficulties, personal injury claims decades after exposure, and enforcement action against organisations and senior officers. Poor asbestos governance is increasingly viewed as a failure of management and Board oversight rather than a technical issue.

Organisations should be satisfied that:

• Buildings and sites built before 2004 are identified and properly surveyed for asbestos-containing materials; no refurbishment, demolition, or retrofit works proceed without asbestos surveys for refurbishment and demolition; 

• Qualified and independent specialists conduct surveying, analysis, and removal; 

asbestos management plans are live documents with a clear strategy for phased removal; senior management accountability for asbestos risk is explicitly defined.

Asbestos is not a material of the past but a current and future governance risk. Early identification, competent management, and planned removal are essential to protect workers, control cost and programme risk, and safeguard the organisation from long-term legal and reputational exposure.

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