Dáil debates

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

5:50 pm

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

He does not acknowledge the investment the Government, for the first time in many years, is making in social housing. We are doing that through the local authorities and through the affordable housing bodies. The Deputy does not recognise that and, while he is entitled to take that view, I believe he is clouded in that respect.

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of passive housing in Dún Laoghaire. I want to put on record that I do not hold any candle for the construction sector - none whatsoever. I am in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to respond to the housing challenge that we all know is there at the moment. I, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and our officials are using every avenue that is available to us to try to address the shortage of supply in housing and apartments throughout the country. With specific regard to the direction issued to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in regard to passive housing, the existing building standards equal or exceed the energy efficiency performance of passive housing. Passive housing is a brand, a commercial entity, that the Deputy is buying into and for which he is holding a candle, whether he realises it or not. It is anti-competitive to impose a commercial brand or a standard across the board within a local authority jurisdiction. What the Government is proposing is consistency of approach and a minimum standard for apartments across the country.

I listened carefully to all of the contributions, especially that of Deputy Wallace because I know he has experience in this area. I agree with a lot of what he said, although I do not often agree with him. We need to be careful in this regard in that we need to distinguish between building standards and building control regulations. The Government introduced building control regulations in a way that has never been seen before to ensure we have compliance in terms of good quality building in this country again. I agree with Deputy Wallace that there is a role for the clerk of works. I believe we have not gone far enough and, if I am back in this Department at any time in the future, I will work to ensure an enhanced role, first, for local authority inspections and, second, for onsite oversight, which is a job for the clerk of works. The clerk of works should be on top of every stage of the development, from breaking the ground, to foundation, to construction, to completion. If we are to learn anything, I believe it is that there is a role for the clerk of works. This is something we should work on because it is the clerk of works who will identify those subcontractors and others who are trying to take shortcuts. There is no place for that.

The regulations introduced by the Government have moved a long way towards bringing accountability in terms of sign-off and certification, although I have no problem saying more needs to be done. It is something I want to work on and I have already instructed Department officials to begin building capacity in terms of the local authority building control departments because they, like the planning and housing sections, were also denuded. If we are to learn from the mistakes of the past, we need to bring up the capacity of those units through the addition of qualified people to inspect and ensure that buildings are being constructed in line with the regulations the people want and deserve.

I would agree with Deputy Stanley's points on plaster slabs, sound-proofing, proper fire regulations and party walls. The regulations have already been enhanced by the Government to ensure that sound-proofing and fire regulation and control is enhanced.

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