Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

This is a dangerous area. I would be the first to admit that culpability often lies with the main contractor. This is sometimes not the case, however, because on occasion the main contractor could be getting a raw deal from the subcontractor. For example, such a subcontractor might not do the work right and could then state he was not going to do any further work until he was paid. If there is going to be a period during which the adjudication panel will try to ascertain where the truth lies and who owes what to whom, it would not be fair to bring work to a halt during that period. The contractor should not be allowed to get someone else to do the work until the matter was resolved. If, for example, the subcontractor involved was a carpenter taken on to put in doorframes and hang doors and if there was a dispute, the contractor should not be allowed to contract someone else to finish the work until the dispute had been resolved. We would be looking for trouble if we were to allow other subcontractors to come on site in such situations in order to finish off particular jobs.

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