Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Mr. Bradley's was particularly compelling and made very clear the process in terms of transparency and the fact that it is the interaction of the different aspects of it that will make it work most effectively.

I want to come back to independence. Ms Spillane mentioned independence in her opening statement and has referred to it again. My colleague, Deputy Catherine Martin of the Green Party, proposed earlier this year the establishment of a national regulator that would be independent and not under the remit of the CIF. I want to tease that out a little with the witnesses. Ms Pollard referred to the board and the independence of its make-up. That is fine if one has the right people, but is there a potential weakness in that it could be more independent if it were not under the remit of the CIF? That is a question about the independence of the board.

I really welcome the witnesses' comments on LDI and PII and the indemnities because they have really helped us in this process to add much more value to the proposed legislation. It has been brought to my attention that the CIRI website explicitly disclaims any liability for the contents of the information on it and tells people not to take any decision in reliance on the information given. Does this make a mockery of the idea that the consumer can rely on this register when he or she is actually being told he or she cannot trust it? What will we do about that in terms of building consumer confidence?

My final point, which was not brought up at all and may be the elephant in the room, concerns the so-called self-builders. The Bill exempts self-builders from registration.

There is and will continue to be a risk for the self-builder, not only in terms of their own liability and responsibility for the construction, but also when it comes to selling on the house and the impact that might have on the buyer. Could self-builders be mandated to come onto the register? Would that give more assurance in terms of risk?