Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have a short closing speech.

I thank the Deputies and Minister of State for their positive comments today and for their insight into and understanding of the matter, which demonstrate the urgency of implementing the provisions of this Bill. There has never been a greater need for this Bill than now, not least because of remediation costs, loss of property value and the inability to resell and insure people's homes. Beyond the financial consequences, it has compromised the safety of thousands of families, who worked and saved hard to secure a home, by putting them and their families at risk of homelessness. I know from helping people to build houses that it is stressful enough to build one, but I can only imagine the stress people who are hanging around a defective one for 20 years have had to endure. It is imperative that we seek to have this Bill passed through pre-legislative scrutiny so that it is enacted alongside the remediation schemes for apartment owners and the defective blocks schemes for those whose homes are crumbling from reactive materials like mica and pyrite.

I have a few notes for the Department. I thank the Minister of State and I agree with him that the vast majority of contractors are hardworking professionals. That has been my experience. I say to the Department and not to the Minister of State that there are some facts. The Department stated that professionals need to carry more liability. Through the building control amendment regulations, BCAR, they carry a huge amount of liability under their insurance today. They carry all the liability. Architects are fully responsible for the building of a property. This Bill would ensure that developers carry some of that load. On current remediation schemes - maybe I have this wrong - the Department said that the mica and pyrite schemes will be put in place. That is for current defects. I am not aware that the legislation will protect future homeowners which needs to happen. The Bill is for the future.

Most people do not appoint designers. They buy from property developers and this Bill gives those owners some legal redress rights. It places some liability on home providers. It is fair that all parties in the building trade take a share of the responsibility. It it not equal.

I thank the many people who have championed this cause, not least the authors of the Bill, Dr. Deirdre Ní Fhloinn and Conor Linehan SC; Pat Montague, advocate for the Construction Defects Alliance; the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and Donal Swan who began this process more than six years ago; and lastly, my team Lara, Laura, Vanessa, Bríd and Molly. Many others apart from the people I have just mentioned truly believe this Bill is worth becoming law.

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