Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to partake in this debate which is exceptionally important to so many. I share the real and legitimate concerns which have been expressed during the debate to date because for any citizen of this country to purchase a home is one of the most significant events in that person's life or, indeed, the life of his or her family. Many young people and new couples have found themselves in impossible situations as a result of the failure of the system and, ultimately, of the State.

I acknowledge at the start that we were over an hour into this debate until a little balance was brought into it by the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee. It must be pointed out - I do not hold any mandate for any vested interest and I come here like everybody else to represent the public - that there are many hard-working decent builders who have done honest jobs in building one-off houses and housing estates. To listen to some of the contributions so far, it is a plague on every house that was ever built in this country. That is wrong because there are many hard-working, honest builders, architects, plumbers, sub-contractors etc. Unfortunately, there were many who were not honest and hard working and they engaged in a race to the bottom, primarily fuelled by greed. It must be said there were many fine housing estates built. Unfortunately, plenty did not meet the standard and that is the crux of the debate tonight. I empathise and sympathise with the residents of Priory Hall and Belmayne and with those affected by the pyrite issue. These people have been left in an impossible situation by the failure of the system. As in the case of the hundreds of thousands of families, couples and people who find themselves in mortgage arrears and financial difficulties, there is now a complete and urgent onus on the Government to address the issues of mortgage arrears and personal debt arising from home ownership and the issues highlighted as a result of the Priory Hall, Belmayne and pyrite cases. We need to have the information put in the public domain. This is something I have called for previously but the information has not yet been furnished. How many more Priory Hall situations have been brought to the attention of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government? It would be useful and informative to know that.

The points made on self-certification and self-regulation are valid and they speak volumes. A point not made to date is that a conflict of interest is at the centre of these self-certification and self-regulation systems that have operated in recent years. Let us consider the situation with the banks. The watchdogs of the banks were reliant and dependent on the client for fees and other ancillary businesses and, as a result, there was a conflict of interest. Unfortunately, this extended to the construction industry and the building trade. When architects and those who must sign off on certification are reliant on the person they must certify, when they must declare that their work is up to standard and when they rely on these people for their livelihoods and for the payment of fees, it is as plain as the noses on our faces that, ultimately, the system will come crashing down.

I refer to some of the political issues raised here tonight. What I have to say will not come as news to anyone in the House. I become blue in the face every time we have a discussion about construction and people lump in Fianna Fáil with the bad builders, practices and fund-raising and everything that goes on. The Mahon report identified the Fianna Fáil party, the Fine Gael Party and one member of the Labour Party. That was discussed and dealt with conclusively in the House. However, what we are discussing tonight has been referred to by all speakers and it is ultimately the responsibility of the local authorities. I do not state this for the benefit of anyone here but for the commentators outside who, every now and then, dip into what we discuss in the Chamber. Between city and county councils there are 34 planning authorities in the country. Some 22 of these 34 are controlled by a combination of Fine Gael and the Labour Party and in the majority of these cases this has been the position since the mid-1990s. That is a fact and I am not making a political point about it. The Mahon report dealt with certain matters up to 1992.

Ultimately, the local authorities have had responsibility for the oversight and implementation of the building regulations and planning policy in their areas as well as responsibility for zoning, local area plans, county and city development plans and all the various strategies. Who was in charge of the majority of the local authorities? Fine Gael and the Labour Party were in control in 22 of 34 authorities. I will offer some examples. Cavan County Council is controlled outright by Fine Gael. Limerick Council is controlled outright by Fine Gael. Mayo County Council is controlled outright by Fine Gael. A combination of Fine Gael and the Labour Party controls Carlow County Council, Cork County Council and Dún Laoghaire County Council.

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