Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To add weight to what I outlined earlier, according to figures published last week by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland on the cost of building a house, professional fees represent 2% of the cost, which is about €5,000. Part of that cost was the assigned certifier. There had been accusations that an additional cost of €10,000 or €20,000 was attached to this requirement, but I do not think that is the case. However, I will examine what the Deputy has said.

I hope we are about to see a dramatic increase in the number of houses being built in Ireland. We need to get back up to building between 30,000 and 35,000 housing units a year for a sustained period. If we are to build that number of houses we must ensure guarantees around quality and certification. One of the reasons we had poor standards was that the previous systems linked to local authorities did not work. I will look at what the Deputy is saying, and if it is possible to do something to reduce costs, I have an open mind on that.

The system now in place does seem to work. I do not get a lot of kickback from developers about it in terms of excessive costs. Certification is an important part of ensuring quality, particularly when we hope to build significantly more houses than in recent years.

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