Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for her comments about my accepting her argument. The purpose of this amendment is to be as simple as possible so that everyone has a fair crack of the whip. Building owners have obligations to comply with the statutory provisions and where they cannot do this without interfering with what is termed the party structure, they must then make good the damage, pay costs and reasonable compensation. If they fail to do so then this is catered for in the legislation. There is provision whereby the occupier or affected person can proceed with the works and, in effect, go after the builder for the costs.

This tends to be a source of much complaint among neighbours. It is an area of the law that is somewhat unclear, so we are trying to introduce some clarity, while not making it too complicated.

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