Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes. It will be a short question.

I am one of those who are concerned about recent reports. When a colleague asked about building controls, the chain on building controls was mentioned, but it appears that a link in the chain is breaking or letting the other links down. I am referring to An Bord Pleanála's decisions, particularly as regards fire safety. Local authorities' fire safety certificates and requirements in respect of fire safety have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. In 90% of cases, An Bord Pleanála has agreed to the overturning or dilution of fire safety conditions. The main reason this is important is because of the risk to human life and the safety of people who live in apartments, but the deletion of conditions on, for example, the provision of sprinklers or measures that would mitigate or control a fire also has an environmental impact. We have spoken a great deal about local authorities and the obligations on them. Is there a danger that some regulations and building controls are being diluted at a higher level? I am conscious that part of that is to make clear what is required versus what is guidance. Is it about strengthening the regulations, which is in the Department's remit, or is it about being much firmer in how planning regulations are applied? The latter is not in Ms Neary's unit's remit, but it may be one of the issues reflected in the written answer we are going to get. We have seen this in terms of fire safety, but it may apply in many other areas of the standards and regulations we have been discussing. For example, there has been a significant dilution of laws relating to light in many An Bord Pleanála decisions.