Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

Perhaps they are not doing their jobs because most planning is by retention and not by the proper method.

The Minister is right: good builders are being penalised because cowboys are allowed to do what they like. There is a race to the bottom, with pressure on good builders who want to construct safe apartment blocks that comply with the standards but they cannot compete with the cowboys who are taking short cuts, not using the proper materials and failing to put fire prevention measures in place. The Minister must revisit this matter with, if necessary, new legislation that will give teeth to the local authorities to force builders to operate properly.

Section 11(d) deals with qualifications and people who were given a grandfather clause. Why is this information so confidential that it is not possible to obtain a list of the people who availed of that clause? This is a serious issue.

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