Mr. Alan Baldwin:

We echo the views of the RIAI and Engineers Ireland on admissions procedures and the codes of conduct that apply to our society. It is those admissions procedures and codes of conduct which deal with any issues that might arise with rogue professionals. As to how the CIRI Bill addresses rogue builders, it creates an admissions procedure whereby certain standards must be satisfied having regard to entry levels, codes of conduct and competence. I am hopeful that the legislation will create a new level of professionalism and new standards in the construction industry.

We were asked about financial redress to protect consumers and my views are like those of my colleagues here. The difference between a professional and a contractor is that one has professional indemnity insurance and the other does not. Professional indemnity insurance is the missing piece of the jigsaw in terms of recourse for those seeking to bring an action against a contractor. Other financial measures such as latent defects insurance were touched on.

There is no financial redress within the Construction Industry Register Ireland, CIRI, scheme and we all recognise this is one of the flaws. The impact and cost of this new regulation will be negligible. Most of the larger contractors tender for large EU work. They are accustomed to providing certain documentation at a certain standard to satisfy certain criteria. The upside to this is a good level of contractors will be able to satisfy the criteria, and the best outcome is that we will also identify some of the contractors who simply do not have the competence or expertise to do the work they are trying to do. We would absolutely welcome bringing back the clerk of works on large complex projects, residential or otherwise. Again, it will have to be looked at carefully in the context of BCAR and whose responsibility lies where. I do not know whether Mr. Isdell has any particular views on the admissions piece from the society's perspective.