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

I have two sets of questions. The first relates to some of the concerns Mr. Sheridan expressed in the written presentation regarding building standards and safety issues. I have heard and read the comments, but I am interested to know in more practical day-to-day detail how Mr. Sheridan believes the provisions of the Bill would negatively impact on safety if they were implemented. Mr. Sheridan listed a series of concerns, including structure, fire ventilation, stairs, energy efficiency and accessibility. In layperson's terms, I would like him to talk us through the reasons he thinks the provisions of the Bill would cause problems in those particular areas.

I would also like to address exempting the subdivision of units from planning permission. My understanding, from the Bill and from listening to Deputy Cowen earlier, is that there is no reduction in standards. They remain the same. However if one has, for example, above-the-shop commercial units and one is looking to subdivide what was a large commercial unit into appropriate residential apartments, this may be a sensible way to speed that up. If there is an appropriate inspection regime, we can make sure that the standards are fully complied with.

Separately from the legislative language, I am interested to hear more on that. The general view of the committee is that we support this Bill and its intentions. There is nobody, from the proposers through to those of us who support it, who wants to see compromised in any way minimum standards, builder compliance or fire safety. If there are unintended consequences to pursuing the objective of the Bill that we can design out as we go through Committee Stage, the committee is keen to address them in order to get the best possible legislation.