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

The Minister of State has raised the bar regarding expectations for Report Stage with his willingness to look at the two earlier amendments. I acknowledge his flexibility on that, which is very welcome. As he said, advice is included in the list of minor sanctions in section 8 and he makes a reasonable point on that. It can also mean a reprimand, a caution or a combination of those. What happens if a contractor receives a series of reprimands or cautions? "Prime Time" did a significant piece of reportage on an individual trader who does home extensions and has left a trail of devastation behind him. It may be that a registered person has received a series of reprimands or cautions but the cumulative impact of those would be relevant to somebody considering whether this is the kind of trader he or she wants to contract to carry out works. My understanding is that the Residential Tenancies Board publishes all determinations, good, bad or indifferent and serious or light, and these are a matter of public record. I know the Minister of State will look at this but I urge him to also consider Deputy O'Callaghan's amendment.

To return to a point we made at the start of the meeting, one of the great values of a statutory register, notwithstanding some of the fundamental weaknesses in this Bill, is that it protects the good traders and contractors and helps to clean up the industry. For too long, as we know, it has been negatively affected by a portion of contractors, both legal companies and individual sole traders, who have behaved recklessly. To ensure the maximum level of public confidence is restored, everything should be published. It would then be up to individuals to decide if they want to take on somebody. For example, if Deputy O'Callaghan and I were both contractors and the Minister of State was deciding which of us to choose to do his home extension, and I had a litany of minor sanctions but Deputy O'Callaghan's record was a clean as a whistle, who would the Minister of State choose? I would prefer him to know that I had received all those sanctions or reprimands and Deputy O'Callaghan had done nothing wrong. I urge the Minister of Sate to consider that in the context of his examination of the two earlier amendments. Perhaps a balance can be found where some information is published. My preference, like that of Deputy O'Callaghan, is that all of it would be published. Consumers should have the right to know, even if I have a long list of minor infractions, because the other trader in this case, Deputy O'Callaghan, has no infractions. The public should be entitled to know that and to choose him over me. That protects him on the basis that he complies with all the rules and it also forces me to get my act together and avoid future infractions, even if they are minor.