Mr. Eoin O'Herlihy:

There are many detailed questions. I will start with the one on universal design and the requirements under the building regulations. When the building regulations were updated in 2010, Part M1 removed the reference to people with disabilities. Therefore, the current M1 requirement states: "Adequate provision shall be made for people to access and use a building, its facilities and its environs." The reference to people means people of all ages, sizes and abilities. The technical guidance document for Part M states the requirements under the part aim to foster an inclusive approach to the design and construction of buildings, but also that the requirements are based on the principle of universal design. Unfortunately, the guidance that accompanies the regulation is still very much focused on some basic disability requirements, and it does not address universal design in its totality. That is a major gap. That is why everyone is here today saying that technical guidance needs to be updated and amended to address universal design principles in the design and construction of a building.

To add to the point Ms Egan made some minutes ago, to achieve universal design in the built environment we have to ensure that, at all stages of design and construction projects, universal design is being addressed. That goes from the tendering stage, when the client is writing a brief, to all stages of planning, design, detailed design, construction and handover. Unless we address that in the building industry, we will never fully achieve universally designed buildings. It is about the process but it is also about ensuring the guidance in place addresses universal design, not just basic disability requirements. Since 2000, the requirement under Part M has been based on the universal design approach but, unfortunately, the guidance needs to be updated to meet that.

On the second point, we have 12 building regulations in Ireland, ranging from Part A to Part M. Reference was made to Part B, on fire safety, but we could also be considering Part K, which deals with matters such as guarding, rails and safety.

Part G looks at hygiene. Other building regulations could be strengthened or incorporate more information around universal design. In some projects that we work on, the fire consultant looks after Part B and the accessibility consultant looks after Part M. There can be discrepancies in the design. If there was a review of all of the building regulations, part of that could examine how other regulations may need to be considered to determine whether there are gaps in universal design.