Martin Brady (Dublin North East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, for bringing this important Bill before the House. As Deputy Kelly said, it marks a good day for the consumer. It will be seen in years to come as progressive consumer law. It is also appropriate that the Bill is before the House soon after the anniversary of the Stardust tragedy. Many of the victims of the tragedy hail from my constituency. We must make sure that a similar tragedy never happens again. The Bill goes a long way towards ensuring that.

The enforcement of the legislation will be the key measure of its success or failure. From my overview of the proposed legislation, I believe it will result in much progress on a number of levels. It will assure the public that those calling themselves architects, building surveyors and quantity surveyors are properly qualified. It strengthens the enforcement of building control law to ensure that Ireland's high building control standards are fully adhered to and provides for the energy rating of houses and commercial buildings. Together with the new building regulations, these measures will bring long-term cost savings to householders and business and help meet Ireland's greenhouse gas emission obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Bill also marks a further move in implementing the Government's commitment to disability by requiring commercial buildings and apartment blocks to be certified as being compliant with disability access requirements. The feedback I get from my constituents indicates that there is a demand for this kind of legislation. With building activity running at all-time record levels in Ireland, it makes sense to strengthen our building control system and to seek to improve the energy performance of our existing and new building stock. We need to build better buildings, instil public confidence in those who design our buildings and recognise the qualifications of the people involved.

The time is long overdue for legislation to protect consumers from unqualified people passing themselves off as qualified building professionals. Accordingly, I welcome the registration of the titles of architect, building surveyor and quantity surveyor because it will give a greater degree of protection to the general public. This will mean that only qualified people on a statutory register will in future be entitled to use these titles. The registration system for architects is to be administered by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and for building surveyors and quantity surveyors by the Society of Chartered Surveyors. I welcome that the Minister, Deputy Roche, will ensure that the eligibility criteria for registration will not be decided by the relevant registration bodies, and the Bill lays down a rigorous system to ensure that the highest standards are met.

It is absurd that in 2006 one need only put up a sign stating "architect" outside one's door to classify oneself as such. Most people will remember a "Prime Time" programme from last year which claimed that a property consultant made 132 applications to a local authority in Dublin since 2001 but the council could find no record of planning officials ever having met him. It emerged that the council had refused 67% of the architect's valid applications, which the director of planning for Fingal County Council described as a very high rate of refusal by any standard. When one arranges to meet a doctor or consultant, it is reasonable to expect he or she has followed a recognised training course and achieved a professional qualification. One has reason to assume that is the case. However, we should also seek to find a means of recognising those who have demonstrated their ability, not through formal qualifications but through their work.

Registration has been in place in the United States, for example, since 1990 and in the United Kingdom since 1930, but to which model should we aspire? Research leads me to believe that the best model in place is that in the United States. The Association of Building Engineers has made a submission on the Bill supporting it. It is a sign of a good Bill when those about to be regulated welcome the legislation. As Deputy Kelly said, legitimate architects, surveyors and builders have nothing to fear from this Bill, rather they will benefit considerably from it. It is only the cowboys who will have to worry about it. The majority of builders in my constituency are good builders who will not have any problem with it.

Some years ago the Competition Authority stated that the case for regulating those who describe themselves as architects had not been adequately made. In a consultation paper on the profession the authority suggested that a regulatory impact analysis should be undertaken before the proposal to regulate it was progressed. I have heard criticism with regard to the length of time it takes to qualify as an architect, approximately five years with two further years postgraduation. We now have universal application of academic standards throughout Europe and a common understanding of what constitutes a qualified person. This is a welcome development.

I am pleased the Bill enhances fire safety controls and provides for better compliance with disability access requirements under the building regulations. This gives teeth to the enforcement of the building control legislation. The introduction of a disability access certificate will ensure that the disability compliance requirements of the building code are fully respected. The requirements will advance the rights of people with disabilities to enter and use buildings, a precondition for equal access to services and employment.

I welcome that in parallel with the publication of the Bill the Minister will embark on a public consultation exercise to review the current building control standards as they relate to disability, the Part M requirements. I hope all interested parties take full advantage of that process. With regard to making public buildings accessible for people with disability, we should not wait for this to happen. The timeframe of ten years which will take us to 2015 seems a bit too long. How could those responsible take ten years to make a building accessible? This period is too lengthy and I do not understand the need for such a long timeframe. I ask the Minister to review this on Committee Stage and do all he can to speed up the process.

We want to reach a stage where people with disabilities can leave their homes and access footpaths and public buildings and go about their business. The issue of accessibility of footpaths has been brought to our attention on numerous occasions. We must ensure that when a person leaves his or her home in a wheelchair, he or she can reach his or her destination. They should be able to travel along footpaths with dish kerbs in place that enable access for wheelchairs, not the current situation.

Although I welcome the introduction of a disability access certificate confirming the designs of new non-domestic buildings and apartment blocks will comply with Part M of the building regulations, I have severe reservations about the process of seeking High Court injunctions to stop the construction of new buildings if their designs have not been granted disability access or fire safety certificates or if an enforcement notice served by the local authority has not been complied with. There must be a simpler way of dealing with such problems.

I am aware that with regard to energy performance the heating and cooling of buildings account for an estimated 45% of energy consumption and of related CO2 emissions. The conservation of energy in buildings must be a key part of any energy policy at national or EU level and is a cornerstone of the national climate change strategy. The Bill, together with new building regulations, will put Ireland to the forefront of the EU in driving energy efficiency in our homes, offices, factories and other commercial buildings. This will be a win win situation for energy savings and the environment.

The Minister was right in saying that good builders are being penalised because of rogue builders who are allowed to do as they like in a race to the bottom. There is pressure on good builders who want to construct safe apartment blocks that comply with standards but who cannot compete with rogue builders who take short cuts, do not use proper materials and fail to put fire prevention measures in place etc. The Minister must review the matter and if necessary introduce new legislation that will give teeth to local authorities to enable them to force builders to operate properly and finish estates.

Currently local authorities are not in a position to deal with the obligations placed on them in this regard. We impose new duties on our local authorities from time to time, even though they do not always have the relevant personnel to carry out such duties. We must, therefore, be realistic when passing this legislation and ensure the necessary personnel are in place to implement its provisions. An example of the current farcical situation is the ongoing controversy relating to the failure of local authorities to take charge of unfinished housing estates. In numerous areas in my constituency it took ten or 12 years before such estates were taken in charge. This is a significant problem in Dublin as I am sure Deputy Finian McGrath could confirm. I have heard him raise the issue at council level.

This is a progressive Bill. I thank the Minister for introducing it and commend it to the House.

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