Mr. Aidan O'Connor:

The Deputy asked quite a number of questions. She mentioned the consumer protection aspect of the Priory Hall and Longford cases. We are concerned about the lack of consumer protection under which people operated, and there is no excuse for that. The regulations do not excuse such behaviour; the board is quite clear about that. Unfortunately, when one undertakes the legal process, everything is stalled until the matter is resolved.

The Deputy asked about a register of licensed builders. We will introduce a register of contractors, which is another reform mechanism that I should have mentioned earlier. We have brought forward regulations but the Minister has yet to sign them. We have introduced a code of practice, which may be a growing document. There will be a period of implementation for the regulations when they are introduced. We have already started the process of examining how we can register contractors and are talking to the industry.