Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My questions will follow the same line of questioning as the Chairman's. I refer to the certificates of compliance. Those, in the main, relate to compliance with the building regulations and with the planning permission that may have been granted for the development. Who polices the certification of compliance with the building regulations on behalf of the Department? Is it the case that the Department is dependent on insurance companies to inform it of the lack of regard for those same regulations as certified by certain individuals? It is ironic that we are talking about this on a day when the reform of local government is spoken about, and "spoken about" is the operative phrase. Each local authority has a planning enforcement officer but the local authorities do not have sufficient funding to allow these officers to police planning in the desired right and proper manner. This has been to our detriment in the past and it needs to be addressed in the future, if that role is to be taken seriously. These professionals certify buildings to be compliant with planning regulations. They also carry out other functions such as fire safety. If it is the case that local authorities in the past and to date are dependent on independent persons to vouch for this compliance, that is a sorry state that needs to be addressed. What is the opinion of the Department in that regard?