Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to accept this opportunity to respond to the Chairman of the joint committee on its report dated July 2015 regarding the regulation and inspection of gas installers operating in Ireland.

I welcome this report which makes a valuable contribution to the debate on gas safety and its regulation and I thank the Chairman of the committee, Deputy O'Mahony, and the members of the committee for their important and valuable work in this area and for the careful and assiduous nature with which they conducted this assessment and report.

The report deals with a matter which, while it is of national importance, nevertheless is not one for which I, as Minister, have direct responsibility. The Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, as Ireland's independent energy regulator, has the statutory responsibility for gas safety regulation. In this regard, much of the substance of the report falls directly within the CER's remit. Deputies will understand that my remarks must necessarily have regard to the statutory independence of the regulator in the conduct of its regulatory functions, including in respect of gas safety, and its accountability to the Oireachtas committee. For the purposes of this debate I will, therefore, only describe the actions the regulator has signalled it is taking on the various issues in the report. I am sure Deputies would agree that in the light of CER's independent regulatory role in gas safety, its views on the recommendations would be most relevant and helpful in the continuing debate on this valuable report.

I read the report of the joint committee with great interest. I need hardly say, of course, that the safety of domestic natural gas consumers, and the public in general, is of paramount importance. I wholeheartedly agree that it is necessary that we, as legislators and public representatives, must ensure that safety is placed high on the agenda, in so far as it is within our remit to do so.

In that context, it is now almost ten years since the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 gave enhanced powers to the CER to include the regulation of the activities of natural gas undertakings and natural gas installers, with respect to safety; the promotion of natural gas safety; consultation with the National Standards Authority of Ireland regarding gas safety standards; and the establishment and implementation of a natural gas safety framework.

I am happy to place on record that I have every confidence that the CER continues to discharge its role in respect of gas safety in an exemplary manner through the ongoing operation of its gas safety regulatory framework. This framework was initially published in October 2007. As I have said, the CER is, of course, legally wholly independent in the performance of its functions and therefore none of its individual decisions is under consideration here.

I turn now to the recommendations in the report. The first recommendation of the joint committee was that an independent expert should be appointed to investigate the sector. At the committee's hearing, on 18 February 2015, the CER placed on record that it acknowledges that illegal activity is taking place. From a legal point of view, it is doing everything within its power to tackle the number of illegal operators. It also placed on record that it is happy at any time to engage with anyone who has further ideas to tackle illegal operators. The CER demonstrated to the committee how it is seeking to address the problem through a variety of means. These include investigations of all reported illegal activity, prosecutions when appropriate and promoting public awareness of both the benefits of using a registered gas installer, RGI, and the actual legal requirements in this regard.

The appointment of a consultant to carry out research into the extent of illegal activity would be a matter entirely within the operational remit of the CER. As Minister, I have no function in that regard. However, in this particular context I would like to remind Deputies that at the committee's hearing the CER stated that informal surveys of this nature have been carried out. It also stated that it has been engaging with the Central Statistics Office to attempt to assess the extent of the numbers involved.

In regard to the second recommendation of the joint committee which, briefly, was that there should be legislative compulsion to underpin a revised safety framework, any such legislation would of course come within the remit of my Department. Such legislative change would need a thorough examination under a number of headings, for example, feasibility, practicality, costs and impacts. There would be obvious crossovers with existing legislation in the consumer area, such as the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980. These practicalities would need to be looked at by other relevant Departments were that course to be taken.

Deputies may recall that, at the hearing on 18 February 2015, the CER stated that it had already engaged with merchants to propose the introduction of a voluntary scheme to restrict the sale of gas boilers to registered gas installers. It also stated that it had asked merchants to display publicity material at sales counters to reinforce the message to the public of the benefits of using a registered gas installer.

The third recommendation of the joint committee was that Insurance Ireland should engage with the CER so that insurance cover could be made conditional on boilers being installed and serviced by RGIs. I remind Deputies that at the committee hearing, the CER stated that it had already engaged with Insurance Ireland about such a proposal. Furtherance of this issue is of course a matter entirely between CER and Insurance Ireland.

The fourth recommendation of the joint committee was that the registered gas installer, RGI, scheme be extended to include non-domestic gas works. It is a matter of public record that in August 2014 the CER held a public consultation process on whether an extension of the present regulatory scheme to the non-domestic sphere was warranted and would bring benefits. As a result of this process, it decided to propose the introduction of non-domestic gas works into the regulatory model. The CER published its final decision paper in this matter on 12 October. The next stage will focus on implementation, including the development of legislation, engagement with relevant training bodies, and a publicity campaign.

The final recommendation of the joint committee was that the annual subscription to the RGI scheme be reviewed in order to establish whether it is an impediment to illegal installers registering. Such a matter is an operational one entirely within the statutory remit of the CER, in which I as Minister have no function. However, Deputies may be aware that the CER has, following a recent public procurement process, appointed a gas safety supervisory body, SSB, to regulate gas installers in Ireland. From January 2016, the RGII, Register of Gas Installers of Ireland Limited, will again be the safety supervisory body and will operate under the RGI brand. These arrangements will be in place until the end of 2022. Deputies will recall that RGII was first appointed as the gas SSB for the period from 2009 to the end of 2015. The new body has committed to not increasing the costs of certification during the term of its appointment. The CER will, however, continue to review the costs of certificates on an annual basis.

In conclusion, and respecting the regulatory independence of the CER and its accountability to the Oireachtas committee, I have described some of the steps that it has already taken in areas relevant to the report and about which it has informed industry stakeholders, energy consumers and the committee over the past number of months. It can clearly be seen that the CER is strongly committed to the issue of gas safety. It stated at the committee hearing in February that it operates on the basis of continuous improvement, and that its gas safety regime is subject to continual review in order to determine where improvements can be made. The CER stated that it remains committed to working with all stakeholders to continuously improve the gas installer regulatory model in Ireland. For my part, as Minister with responsibility for energy policy, I reiterate that I am fully confident in the manner in which the CER is discharging its statutory role in relation to safety. I thank members of the committee again for their work in preparing the report and bringing the matter to finality.

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