Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 1 December 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Construction Defects: Discussion with Construction Defects Alliance

Photo of Rebecca MoynihanRebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was going to come in on that point. I thank everybody for coming in. The debate has been really informative but it has also been difficult to hear the lived experiences of the witnesses. It is worth noting what was said by Deputy Ó Broin in that the timeline is ambitious but there are people who are there now who must get money upfront. This time has been very difficult for people many of whom have lost their jobs but people owe money now.

In the July stimulus package €10,000 was added to the help-to-buy scheme. Is the scheme effective and targeted or will it simply increase the price of housing?

The priorities are mixed up. My colleague, Senator Wall, told me about a situation he is dealing with. There are 34 apartments in Kildare and they will have approximately €7,000 to pay for it between now and January.

There are a couple of questions I want to ask specifically of Ms Ní Fhloinn regarding the underlying regulation because I am concerned that there are houses being built now that we will suffer the same fate with. There are two separate elements - a redress scheme for past construction defects and the type of regime that we have going forward. Ms Ní Fhloinn talked about a new homes ombudsman. What powers would she see the ombudsman having? Has she any examples of other countries that might have something similar? If it is a case of producing a report, I am not so sure that would be sufficiently robust for the construction sector. I ask her to elaborate.

I would also like to ask about homes that are being built and current builders. Has Ms Ní Fhloinn any suggestions for a legal regime whereby a builder one cannot change his business's name or continue to trade under the same name? Reform of section 35 of the Planning and Development Act has been mentioned but we can put more robust measures into procurement policy to essentially exclude people who have shown that they have been ignoring the defects issue or have produced shoddy work.

Finally, I want to ask if they have any suggestions. As there seems to be a move toward build to rent and institutional investors, we might see cases of owner-occupiers and institutional investors that have come through a number of legal entities and might be difficult to get at. I encounter this a lot when it comes to issues such as derelict sites. Does Ms Ní Fhloinn have any suggestions for a legal regime to tackle that, if there are institutional investors and money needs to be ponied up? Something each of the owner-occupiers is talking about is that everybody who is involved has to agree before works can begin.

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