Mr. Aidan O'Connor:

It will end up being legislation but it will start with an attempt to establish what is out there and how we can regulate it. In order words, we will examine the contractors and their standards. We have also done this with the professions through the Building Control Act. It will be something like that. It will be based on competencies, training and evidence that their skill sets are brought up to date. To be fair to the industry, some work has been done. HomeBond produced guidance documentation in the form of a "Right on the Site" folder and provides regular updates. When the board introduced regulation HomeBond provided copies to its members. Part of the industry disseminated information. HomeBond did it to reduce the number of claims but it also provided a good service. There are other issues that I will not go into now. There will be a register of builders.

The Deputy mentioned large population changes and how this has transformed Kildare. That was the effect of Dublin's urbanisation and commuter traffic and of people settling in the region. It was an inevitable part of urbanisation.

Did it get enough priority? I think the Deputy highlighted the issue.

Deputy Catherine Murphy raised questions on the local authority process of taking in charge. It would not be good enough that local authorities that prioritise only the areas that they will be taking in charge and must pay for, such as the resurfacing of the road. The issue is wider than that. The taking in charge would be the responsibility of the local area engineer and the depots would take on the job of repairs. They want to get it right at that point. They follow a manual, the site work, and external works document produced by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.