Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No words can adequately deal with the horror that unfolded in London with this horrific and tragic fire which saw the loss of so many lives. It undoubtedly raises questions in the UK regarding the kind of issues that the Deputy mentioned, but every country will want to examine whether their own fire safety measures are good enough, if materials are being used in cladding such as the ones used in the UK, and to review fire safety. The Minister has already started to do all that. Of course a tragedy like that raises question and means that we have to review everything. I want to assure the House that is being done. That process was started immediately by the Minister, Deputy Murphy.

I will make some points on fire fatalities in this country. While each fire death is one too many, the annual fire death rate per million people in Ireland has been almost halved over the past 15 years from on average 11.9 fire fatalities per million population for the years 2001 to 2003 to 6.9 in 2014 to 2016. It is important to note that because we do not want people to become unduly anxious about this issue here, although questions arise. Our country is among those with the lowest incidence of loss of life in fire, which is an important context in which to consider this matter. Nevertheless, we need to examine recent builds and I take the point that the Deputy makes. We need to be sure that our building regulations are up to the task, that we have the personnel in force to supervise them, that the local authorities have the staff they need to continuously monitor the situation.

At present, there is a report into the fire in Newbridge, which I expect the Minister will discuss in the House once it is available. Following the introduction of the building control amendment regulation 2014 there is a requirement on the owner of a building to assign a competent professional to act as an assigned certifier in relation to individual projects, and to lodge a statutory certificate of compliance on completion with the local building control authority. We have been taking increased action to ensure that the building regulations are adequate to deal with the task that the Deputy outlined. Again, part B of the building regulations set the minimum standards for fire safety in the new buildings and in buildings that are undergoing material change, which is also important. That is now captured in our building regulation.

One can never be vigilant enough, but, as I said, the Minister has started a review and is examining the overall position. I have no doubt that if extra precautions and further initiatives are needed, they will be taken.

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