Mr. Mel Reynolds:

The UK, and Northern Ireland in particular, has very similar standards to us and very similar demographics, but its processes are different. It is no one's fault that we have this system. We have three paper-based applications that have evolved in this way. The difficulty for somebody who, for example, owns a building a Youghal that is a protected structure with two vacant upper floors that he or she wants to do something with, is not only does that person possibly have to complete a change of use application for planning, which has been dealt with in the exemption, but the requirement for a fire search and a disabled access search is triggered. We also have building control amendment regulations, SI 9, our reinforced self-certification system that has been in place since 2014.

There is a difficulty with these three separate paper-based applications. Planning was never a problem. It is the most predictable of all the statutory processes to go through. The difficulty for somebody undertaking a new lease, or a project like that, is that person will only know if he or she did not get it when he or she is nearly towards the end of the process. A person can have planning, but all of a sudden that individual may not be able to get a disabled access route correctly in the building, or there may a requirement for a lift or some other requirement. The manual on the repurposing of existing buildings that was mentioned is very good, but it does not deal with the technical issues we have. We have 12 separate technical guidance documents and two secondary ones with approximately 600 pages of technical information.

For the person doing a scheme in a protected structure in a secondary town - Youghal is just an example - the rent will not be €2,000 a month as it is in Dún Laoghaire but an awful lot less. That person is looking at doing something with this protected structure; we have to make the it simpler. Even if there is a streamlined process, the process I have just outlined is one where a person can go in and there is no diminution of standards whatsoever. There might be a fire officer and the person queues up and goes with his or her drawings to that officer. The first one would be planning. If it is a conservation building, you go to the conservation officer, if you pass that you take your drawings to the fire officer and the last one would be the disabled access search. If there is an issue with the width of a doorway in a protected structure, that conversation can be had behind the counter and, therefore, an individual is not dealing with a process in isolation. Frequently, on that particular project I mentioned, which was a 35 sq. m ground floor change of use, the subconsultant who did the disabled access search had to do four separate layouts for two disabled toilets. It is madness but that is because it is looked at in isolation.

If we were able to get all the building control and planning officers around a table to look at these simple applications, they could be resolved very easily. It is a procedural thing. My colleague, Eoin Ó Cofaigh, who is an ex-president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland involved in drafting a number of the technical guidance documents, has confirmed that no primary legislation whatsoever is required for a process like this. This could be done in a series of two, or perhaps three, ministerial orders in the morning, if required. This would remove a critical barrier that we have-----