Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. While it is not going to fix our housing crisis, it is certainly a start. Rome was not built in a day but it was started. There are some interesting ideas in the Bill. I can understand that people have concerns. Sometimes people believe that if one reduces bureaucracy, one actually threatens regulation but bureaucracy does not equal good regulation. It is not necessarily the case. Sometimes it can help but sometimes it does not.

Ms Orla Hegarty and Mr. Mel Reynolds have had an input into this. Both have a good idea about what they are talking about. Currently there are not many people availing of the change-of-use provision, and there is a good reason for that, namely because it is too expensive and does not pay. That is a fact. There are too many unnecessary costs involved. This Bill would potentially address some of them.

There are so many issues related to local authorities and our failure to restructure them and make them fit for purpose so they can actually play a serious role in the supply of housing. They are not being allowed to do so at present. I understand that under this legalisation, there would be an independent panel of inspectors. They should be employed by the local authority. As far as I know, there are only four building control officers in Dublin. They could have 15 or 20 people working for them. I refer to people with experience, who have been on site and who actually know how things work. There would be an inspection halfway through the work and another at the end in respect of all the change-of-use contracts. Thus, we would have something we do not have at present. As Deputy Cowen already pointed out, the current inspection rate is lower than 10%. It has been that way for many years, which is outrageous.

By introducing this Bill, Deputy Cowen has done us a favour. Good things could come from it, even though it is only a drop in the ocean towards challenging all the problems we have regarding the supply of housing.

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