Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

I wish to comment on this Bill because of a number of representations that have been made to me in recent months regarding the building industry. It is timely that this Bill is before the House on the anniversary of the Stardust tragedy and we must make sure that a tragedy like that never happens again. We will have to wait to see if that will be the case with the enforcement of this legislation.

Accountability and transparency should be at the root of all legislation passed in this House as well as in those areas outside the House over which we have some control. There has been an explosion in the construction of apartment buildings, some of which have been very poorly designed and built. An Bord Pleanála has criticised the size of some apartments and the lack of green spaces around them. It appears that the bias has been in favour of the developers rather than the apartment dwellers.

In the context of this Bill, a number of fires have broken out recently in apartment blocks which indicate that fire regulations were breached by developers. Some fires have broken through so-called firewalls designed to contain fires within apartment blocks, while others have spread under the roofs of the blocks. This should not have happened. Construction methods should ensure that fires can be contained in sections of buildings. The only reason that nobody has lost their lives in any of these fires to date is that they occurred in the daytime. All we need is for one of these fires to break out at 5 a.m. when everybody is asleep to have a tragedy on our hands.

The important issues with regard to fire certificates are accountability, transparency and enforcement of the legislation. Many fire certificates are issued on the basis of drawings submitted to the planning authorities. Often there is no on-site inspection of the construction work and many apartment buildings cannot be inspected now, even though we know they are fire traps. Passing legislation is fine but unless there is enforcement, we cannot ensure the safety of people living in apartment blocks today. The Minister must examine not just enforcement in new buildings but also in apartment blocks that have already been built because a tragedy is waiting to happen. The developers led this practice, while no one stood up for those living in the apartments.

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