Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It does not give clarity. There is a notion that something will cost something, but problems are avoided problems by having the proper regulation to begin with. Australia completely re-regulated its construction sector. People do not get a licence to build if they have not been in compliance and, therefore, there is a penalty for not doing it and problems have been avoided in the future. We keep saying we will learn lessons but when it comes to putting in place the solution that will prevent it happening again, we are slow to do it. When we do put these measures in place, we often do not fund them to the extent required to make sure we do not end up with big bills and torture for people living in the accommodation.

Regarding recommendation No. 4, it would be useful to find out whether most landlords are in compliance and will register with the RTB. The ones who do not are the problem. How do we get to those who do not, so that we have satisfactory standards? Are there databases that should be shared with the RTB? For example, Revenue has a database. It may not be sufficient because it may not identify if something is leased or rented but it might be there. Has the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage or the RTB been in contact with the data regulator regarding an impact assessment on any database that might be useful to them in their work? Databases may exist that get to the point we are looking for without duplication.