Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

I remind the Minister that we are talking about 200 entirely avoidable deaths per annum. He has stated enhanced measures for excluding radon gas from houses were introduced recently. He has also referred to the building and other regulations made on foot of these which were developed by his Department under the guidance of his constituency colleague, Deputy McManus, when she was Minister of State at the Department. Does he agree that the regulations are not working because of one simple failure, that is, the expectation the building industry should self-regulate? If I were to pick one industry in the world that should not be asked to self-regulate, it would be the building industry. Strict regulation should be imposed on it rather than self-regulation.

That the houses supposed to have exclusion systems fitted since 1997 are now found to have dangerous levels of radon gas indicates clearly that the measures required to be taken at construction stage are not being implemented correctly. I am sure the Minister will agree. There is no inspection at any stage except at the end of the process, at which time an architect signs a piece of paper. This architect is hired by the builder during the planning process and subsequently paid by him or her to state the development is built in accordance with the building regulations, including radon gas regulations. Does the Minster have any view on enforcing the regulations rather than allowing self-regulation? Does he agree that there should be a requirement on those selling pre-1997 houses to have a radon test carried out on the dwellings before they are sold?

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