Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

It seems the details of that horrific night have been gleaned annually since 1981 and, every year at about this time, recommendations of the tribunal which have yet to be implemented are highlighted and new fire safety measures are called for. On the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, the fact that the prosecution of a pub or club owner for breach of fire regulations entailed taking a case to the Circuit Court rather than the lower District Court was underlined by certain people in the fire services. The Bill addresses that concern and simplifies the prosecution process. Prosecution in the District Court is opened up as an option to local building control authorities.

There is no doubt that we have come a long way since 1981. The annual running cost of the fire service is now in the order of €250 million and Dublin alone makes up for €90 million of this sum. Since 1981, the State has provided the fire service with almost €240 million in capital funding, including €19 million this year alone. A major refurbishment of the Dublin fire brigade training centre at Marino, the O'Brien Institute, to the tune of €20 million, is at an advanced stage of planning and I hope the Minister will give this project swift approval so the work can begin.

Existing legislation in this area includes the Fire Services Act 1981, the Building Control Act 1990, the precursor to this Bill, and the Licensing of Indoor Events Act 2003. All these had their merits. The 1981 Act was passed in the immediate aftermath of the Stardust tragedy and it imposed statutory responsibility upon persons in control of buildings to take precautions to prevent the outbreak of fire, and to ensure the safety of persons on the premises in the event of a fire. It also provided for inspections to be undertaken by fire authorities and, as a result, more than 13,000 inspections of almost 10,000 premises were carried out in 2004.

The Building Control Bill 2005 enforces existing legislation regarding the fire safety certificate process. If this Bill is enacted, the use of non-domestic buildings and apartment blocks will be entirely disallowed without the relevant certification. Given the prospective financial implications, I am sure this will, as intended, deter developers from shirking their responsibilities in this regard. However, we must keep reminding ourselves of the lessons learned from the Stardust tragedy. Laws that are passed must, first and foremost, be enforced and people must be aware of the requirements of the law.

Last August, 15 people were evacuated from a burning building on Ormond Quay in Dublin. There was no fire escape in the block of nine apartments and the fire blocked the only exit. Thanks to the work of the emergency services, there were no fatalities. However, the case should not have arisen in the first place. In the wake of the event, a spokeswoman for Dublin City Council told The Irish Times that building regulations required all new or newly renovated buildings to have fire certificates but she was unable to state the position on fire safety certificates for older buildings. I am pleased this Bill does not discriminate between old and new apartment blocks. Enforcement is gravely important when issues of safety are in question but implementation must precede enforcement. I am aware that aspects of the Licensing of Indoor Events Act 2003, about which I spoke in this Chamber more than three years ago, have yet to be put into operation. Discussions with the entertainment industry and fire authority experts on the licensing of indoor events by local authorities are ongoing. This is not satisfactory and I hope it will be resolved soon.

We know from the Stardust tribunal that the designing of buildings by unqualified people poses a real danger to the public. Like other people, when I come across newly published Bills I am sometimes surprised by the issues which arise from them. That people can arrive on these shores and refer to themselves as architects, regardless of their qualifications, is totally unacceptable and unsafe. People have been demanding since the foundation of the State that this glaring negligence be remedied. In my research, I discovered that a staggering 80% of the complaints made to the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland in 2004 related to work being done by people who were unqualified. Stories of rogue builders are not just urban myths. This Bill provides for the registration of the titles of "architect", "building surveyor" and "quantity surveyor", which will help to boost consumer confidence in the industry. It is significant that the Bill has the full endorsement of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, the Association of Building Engineers and the Building Regulations Advisory Body.

The architecture industry is spending a great deal of time in the public eye because the Government is continuing to provide record levels of housing and debates on urbanisation are broadening and becoming more intense. My experience as a representative of the Dublin North-Central constituency and as the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government has taught me that planning is a major issue. People are increasingly seeking to build apartment blocks rather than houses. Apartments constituted 68% of all housing units built in the city of Dublin in 2004. I am greatly concerned about some of the issues which arise from that. The provision that management companies be established is a fairly new phenomenon in the granting of planning permission to apartment complexes. Developers are required to establish management companies and subsequently to transfer the responsibilities of such bodies to residents who become responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of services within the boundaries of complexes. If they choose to retain such responsibilities, it can be quite daunting for people without previous experience in this area to deal with problems relating to water, drainage and lighting etc. Such responsibilities can cause real headaches for people who already have full-time jobs.

I was pleased to note recently that Dublin City Council has established a residential section with responsibility for issues that can arise in the private rented sector, with particular regard to apartment complexes. The new section will support management companies by giving them advice on how best to fulfil their responsibilities and give some kind of structure to the system. It is comforting for one to learn that the services of professional management companies can be availed of, until one also learns that the city council has no responsibility or authority to ensure that management companies provide services to adequate standards. There are no standards for the provision of services to housing and apartment complexes, even though such complexes have become a large part of the answer to our housing problem. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform recently published a report in which a review group recommended that auctioneering, estate agency, property letting and property management agencies be licensed and regulated. I remind Deputies that in 2004, 80% of all complaints made to the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland related to work done by people who were unqualified. The House is addressing that problem today. I hope similar provisions will be made soon in respect of bodies operating in the private residential sector. I look forward to debating such legislation in the near future.

As the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government, I am familiar with the EU energy performance in buildings directive, which has been the subject of healthy debate at many of the committee's meetings. I am delighted that the directive is being transposed into Irish law in the Bill. The enactment of part L of the building regulations, which relates to the thermal performance and insulation standards of buildings, will reduce the energy required to heat a domestic dwelling by between 23% and 33%, depending on the size and type of dwelling. This significant reduction in energy requirements will have a knock-on effect on the cost of heating, which will decrease by approximately €188 per annum, and will add to the cumulative effect of the amendments to part L regulations, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 400,000 tonnes a year by 2012.

Under this legislation, the energy performance of buildings will be measured by a building energy rating system and assessed by building professionals who are registered in accordance with the Bill. It is appropriate and necessary that the new rating system will be introduced on a phased basis over the next three years. Although technical guidance documents are available to those involved in the building industry, the new system has the potential to cause confusion among home owners and buyers. I hope a sustained awareness campaign will be initiated over the coming years to reassure people and inform them of their duties and the requirements under EU law. The implementation of the action plan that has been put in place on foot of our adoption of the EU energy performance in buildings directive will have a massive impact on the health of our environment.

The measures in this Bill have huge significance for Ireland's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Our current building output is set to continue. The demand for housing is starting to be met by supply. Figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency two weeks ago show that greenhouse gas emissions rose slightly in 2004. The increase of 7% in emissions in the residential sector can be accounted for in part by the housing boom and the increase in this country's population. The residential sector produces just over 10% of Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, which makes it the fourth highest contributor. The third highest contributor is the transport sector, which produces 17.5% of our greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions of the transport sector, which is a victim of current social trends, increased by 6% from 2003 to 2004.

I urge the Government to work harder to increase the practicality of the use of biofuels, which entered our market recently. There are strong indications that biofuels could become commercially viable within two years. A number of pilot projects in this regard are under way in Dublin. I would like more major companies to prepare feasibility studies on the prospective use of such environmentally friendly fuels. The emissions levels in the transport sector, which have increased significantly on a sustained basis, are well over double what they were in 1990. Given that innovation and adjustment are important in this regard, I am pleased that section 5 of the Bill, which relates to alternative energy systems for large buildings, requires that any person proposing the construction of a building with a floor area exceeding 1,000 sq. m. must ensure that research into the use of alternative energy systems for the building is prepared and consolidated into a feasibility study with the intention of putting it into practice. This is an innovative and positive approach to environmental matters and to planning law. It is particularly notable in the context of the recent relaxation of the retail planning guidelines which opened the possibility of large-scale retail outlets being designed and built.

I have merely skimmed the full implications of the Bill, but this is clearly impressive and commendable legislation. It is multifaceted and innovative, yet it is workable. It has raised other issues that need to be addressed and I look forward to seeing them examined shortly in these Houses in legislative format. Time constraints mean that I have not been able to deal with many other positives contained in the Bill, including its provisions safeguarding disabled access for new buildings, but they are equally important in making this Bill's passage into law an exciting prospect. I hope that Committee Stage of this Bill can be taken without delay. Architects are anxious to see the provisions of this Bill enacted straight away. As chairman of the committee, I will make myself available to process Committee Stage without delay and I hope the Minister can facilitate that. I commend this Bill to the House.

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