Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The developer of Priory Hall has never been convicted, but we all know that he was responsible for one of the worst examples of building control breaches, so much so that the gross cost to the State is €70 million and the net cost to the State for that one development alone is €20 million. However, on the basis of what the Minister of State said, that individual can return to the State - he is currently practising in the building trade in Belfast - and register and if he can provide proof that he adheres to the other criteria, we will allow him to build again. This is one of those rare moments where the Government actually has a chance to accept an argument of the Opposition and make a significant change. I accept that I am seeking to significantly widen the scope of the register, but if we do not do it, there will be no mechanism to prevent rogue builders from being registered and continuing to practise in the future. It is one of those moments where the Minister of State and his colleagues will look back and think they did the wrong thing.

I am not going to continue the debate because we had a very detailed debate on Committee Stage. We will return to this on Committee Stage in the Seanad. If we do not pass this amendment, or a similar amendment, we are saying it will be perpetually permissible in this State for builders, such as the builder who built Priory Hall, and there are many more like him, to continue to trade and build because there is nothing in the law to prevent them from being struck off. That is incredible. In the context of other registers, for example, if I were an architect who trades as an architect but is not properly qualified, I could be struck off the register and never practise again. That is a relatively minor infringement in comparison with the types of building contractors we are talking about.

I urge the Minister of State to reflect on the issue, talk to his colleagues and consider something like this between now and Committee Stage in the Seanad. Otherwise, it will be a moment we live to regret for a very long time.

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