Mr. Alan Isdell:

Senator O'Sullivan's suggestion of having an independent regulator certainly sounds great and it would remove any doubt as to the independence of the regulator. On the flip side, however, we have to look at the cost-benefit analysis. We are looking at a construction industry with a lot of members. Considering the volume of building we are now facing, we are probably talking about 80,000 people coming into the construction sector in the next four years, maybe more. We have to ramp up our housing significantly so we are talking about a lot of people. The Construction Industry Federation, CIF, framework that is in place already has many of those people in its system. It makes sense from a cost-benefit point of view to use those systems. It is legitimate, however, to ask whether that is independent enough. We have spoken about the board members here, and the witnesses from the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, RIAI, have made some good comments on this matter. It is very important that the board be independent and able to make decisions outside of the influence of the CIF. There are, I think, only three CIF members on the board under the Bill as it currently stands. More ministerial nominees might possibly be appropriate. This is the key, however. It is a case of looking at how much this is going to cost because that cost will eventually pass down to the consumer. Any decision to put in place an independent regulator would have to be justified in terms of cost.

Mr. Baldwin just mentioned the legislation on self-builders brought in by the previous Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. Like many commentators at the time, the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland, SCSI, was not in favour of it. If I were a person building a house down the country, however, and if I were looking at what my responsibilities were under legislation and signing a declaration saying that I would build my house in accordance with the building regulations, I think that I would step back from it. There are also significant responsibilities under health and safety legislation in terms of health and safety on sites and project supervisor construction stage, PSCS. Could a lay person put themselves in that role? I would have to step back from it. People have to make their own decisions, but there are a lot of responsibilities placed on them there. If I was giving advice to someone I would tell them to be very careful because they would be opening themselves up to a lot of responsibility and possible subsequent liability.