Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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This is a matter of grave and urgent concern to the 900 residents who occupy 298 apartments in the Longboat Quay development. I am really annoyed and very disappointed that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is not here and has been glaringly absent over the past 48 hours since this story became prominent in the national media. There has been virtually no response from the Government, which is really disappointing. It is useful, at least, that we have social media to track the whereabouts of Ministers these days. I note the Minister has been busy hoisting flags and engaging in such activity this afternoon. This is inappropriate. The whole point of the Topical Issue debate was that Ministers would come to the House to be accountable to Deputies on all sides. I do not blame the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, but believe the Minister himself should be present to address this matter.

In the past hour, Dublin Docklands Development Authority has made what I regard not only as a derisory offer to the residents concerned but also one that involves a certain degree of funny accounting. Having met the residents and attended the public briefings on this, I am aware that the authority and the receiver involved in this case, which has taken over from developer Bernard McNamara, have both contributed in excess of €1 million already in this case. They have essentially tried to repackage that in an act that is, unfortunately, not unfamiliar on the Government benches. A contribution of €2.75 million towards the cost has now been announced. I assume that can only include the €1 million that has already been effectively paid out. Therefore, in reality, it is a sum of €1.75 million, not €2.75 million. This needs to be clarified. We know Dublin Docklands Development Authority has a history of dealing with funny money and strange forms of accounting but it must take us all for fools by trying to repackage the money in its announcement this afternoon.

A number of points are pertinent in this matter. First, the crisis in Longboat Quay is not unique, unfortunately, as there have been similar examples. We are all familiar with Priory Hall and many other cases. The cases point to a complete and utter absence of accountability in corporate Ireland. This is a trend that has been exposed beyond any doubt over the past seven or eight years. Mr. Bernard McNamara has been through a bankruptcy process and there is no legal recourse to him. That is the legal position. The project architect, the individual who certified the construction as being safe, left Ireland in 2011 and now operates in Ghana. It is highly likely that the issues identified at Longboat Quay will crop up in developments across the country again, and there will be an increasing number of victims of light-touch building regulations.

I have spoken about this in this Chamber and elsewhere before. On the day of the tragedy in Berkeley during the summer, when, because of shoddy development and irresponsible behaviour on the other side of the Atlantic, young Irish citizens sadly lost their lives and many of their friends were injured very seriously, our Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and his Minister of State were writing to Dublin City Council asking it to relax the building regulations in the city. This is scandalous. The matter I am raising shows just how scandalous it is.

The response of the Government to incidents such as that at Priory Hall was to introduce new building control regulations in 2014. These require assigned certifiers, namely, surveyors, architects, engineers etc. to approve all construction projects. However, this system is deeply flawed and does not address the problem the people of Longboat Quay are facing. The certifiers' independence is greatly undermined by the fact that they are frequently either the designer of the building project or an employee of the developer; they are not independent.

We need to move to the system in the UK where there is independent certification which is controlled by the local authority. It is not left to dodgy and cowboy developers and their employees to certify, often falsify, this type of buildings. We will see further instances of this again and again.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It was raised during Leaders' Questions by Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh when the Tánaiste and Minster for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, responded to his queries. I have been supplied with a response on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, who is unavailable. I should say at the outset that it is not inconceivable that Ministers are unable to take these debates in the House from time to time. The Deputy, as a former Minister of State, should-----

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry, may I interrupt the Minister of State? The Topical Issue debate was a very good introduction by the present Government. In recent months, I have had Ministers not being available, and we are losing slots. This Topical Issue matter must be taken seriously and it is irrelevant if it was raised on the Order of Business. The Department and the Minister were advised this morning, before the Order of Business, that this Topical Issue matter was granted. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would convey to the Department that we do not want any of those excuses.

I regard it as the right of a Deputy to raise a Topical Issue matter in this House. The Topical Issue debate has been very successful and with respect to this House, while we all have our jobs and our duties, the first duty of a Minister is to this House. The Topical Issue debate is one of the main ways for Deputies, backbenchers in particular, to raise matters of grave importance.

This should not be allowed to happen and, with respect, I ask the Minister of State to bring back to the Department that it is not doing us any favours by telling us that this was already raised on the Order of Business. This is the Topical Issue debate and everybody knows it takes place on a Thursday at this particular time, 4.42 p.m. to be exact.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I mentioned the fact that this issue was raised on the Order of Business merely to make the point that it was a matter that was before the House already today not, a Cheann Comhairle, with all due respect, to make a political point. I am just saying it was raised by Dublin Deputies and was stating that for the record. If you will grant me some leniency on time, I agree absolutely that Ministers should be present, but a further charge was made by the Deputy in respect of the relaxing or control of building regulations. I cannot answer for that charge as it has been raised here as an Adjournment issue. Perhaps the Minister should answer that for himself but, nonetheless, the charge is made.

I understand that Dublin Fire Brigade has no plans to evacuate residents from their homes and intends, rather, to serve an enforcement notice requiring that a schedule of works be carried out to ensure an acceptable level of fire safety provision is achieved at the development. I preface my further remarks by saying this is the script I have been given to deliver. If some development has taken place in the past hour or so, a Cheann Comhairle, I am not aware of that.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I appreciate the Minister of State's position.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The issues which have emerged in Longboat Quay are a matter for the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the receiver to the developer, residents of Longboat Quay and their management company as well as Dublin Fire Brigade to resolve collaboratively. I cannot answer for the charges that have been made by the Deputy in respect of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government understands that all parties are actively engaging to find a resolution to the situation that has arisen. While Dublin Fire Brigade has been proactively engaging with all concerned for several months it cannot wait indefinitely for matters to be resolved and has, accordingly, this week signalled its intention to serve an enforcement notice. I do not know if events today have overtaken that.

Local authorities have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the Fire Safety Act 1981, the Building Control Act 1990 and the Planning and Development Acts, all of which may be relevant in relation to fire safety arrangements in residential developments. Compliance with the statutory requirements in regard to a building is, first and foremost, a matter for the owners, designers and builders concerned. A charge has been made here against the architect and the designer. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has no function in assessing or checking compliance, or otherwise, of specific works or developments, nor can the Department or the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, influence or interfere in the handling of specific cases by local authorities who are at all times independent in the use of their statutory powers.

The Minister has a role in ensuring that adequate arrangements are in place to avoid the recurrence of such problems elsewhere. In this regard a number of legislative reforms have been put in place since the Longboat Quay development was built which greatly strengthen the arrangements in place for the regulation and oversight of such developments. The statutory registration of key construction professionals under the Building Control Act 2007 means that such professionals may now be subjected to professional conduct proceedings where instances of professional misconduct or poor professional performance arise - ultimately this may lead to removal from the statutory register which would affect the professional's ability to earn their livelihood. Building control regulations were amended to require on and from 1 March 2014 greater accountability in regard to compliance with building regulations in the form of statutory certification of design and construction by registered construction professionals and the Multi-Unit Development Act 2011 further requires developers to supply a certificate of compliance with fire safety from a registered construction professional in each such development.

It is also worth noting that the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, in the interests of supporting owners and residents living in developments where concerns regarding compliance with fire safety arise, recently announced a review by an independent fire safety expert to develop a framework for general application in such situations. This review will outline general advice and guidance which can be used by owners-residents and their professional advisers, to ensure that an adequate level of safety is in place for persons in and about their development. This may include making provision for appropriate or enhanced fire detection and alarm measures; checking that appropriate escape routes from the premises are available, designed in accordance with current standards; and ensuring evacuation plans are rehearsed in each premises in the event of a fire incident.

The review is being overseen by a steering group comprised of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and local authority representatives under the chair of Mr. Martin Riordan, former manager of Cork County Council. The steering group will prepare its report by 31 January 2016.

May I conclude by saying I do not want to give political platitudes to anybody. I do not know what it is like and I cannot imagine what it is like for the residents of Longboat Quay except to say that there is widespread sympathy for the plight in which they find themselves at this time.

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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The first thing to say is that sympathy will not address the fact that the outstanding €2 million amounts, on average, to €20,000 per apartment in that development. Nobody knows how that is going to paid and nobody knows who is going to pay for it.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Has the Deputy a suggestion?

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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My suggestion is very clear. The receiver and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, which is a State entity, which the Government in its wisdom for populist reasons has chosen to disband - I oppose that completely but I suppose that is a discussion for next week - owns the common areas in this building. It was the partner in the PPP that developed this site. It is responsible in the absence of any legal responsibility falling on the developer because the developer went for one-year bankruptcy in the UK and is not now hiding behind the legal personality of his former company. It is the responsibility of the Minister who is in charge of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority to ensure that the authority upholds its responsibility. It is about to be subsumed into Dublin City Council. We have the bizarre situation where the Dublin Fire Brigade, which is threatening the notice of enforcement, is another arm of Dublin City Council, and which the DDDA is about to become.

The fact that it is absolving itself and washing its hands is farcical. Residents have been written to by the DDDA and told that it does not have responsibility for this development. This is untrue. The DDDA is responsible and, therefore, the Minister is responsible. I heard the Tánaiste washing her hands of this today and I have heard the Government say that essentially the matter has nothing to do with it. That is untrue and misleading and I guarantee that if enough of a political furore is kicked up about this, the Government will do something.

It is essential that the Government shows some leadership on this matter. The working group and the investigatory group to which the Minister of State referred will have no effect on the residents in the same way that the building regulations that were introduced by this Government in 2014 will have no effect, not only for the people at Longboat Quay but also in the context of any future developments. These regulations lack teeth and they cannot make a difference because there is no requirement for independent certification. Essentially, they allow developers to govern themselves.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The points are made. If I interpret the Deputy correctly, there is a suggestion that the DDDA should act in respect of the common area-----

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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The entire development.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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-----the entire development - and that the €2 million outstanding should be obtained from the DDDA or, the Deputy is saying, vicariously from the Minister. In other words, effectively the Government should pay the €2 million. If I interpret the Deputy correctly, that is essentially what she is suggesting.

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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Through the DDDA and Dublin City Council.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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For clarity and in the interests of the record of the House, I am not fully across this issue but perhaps the Deputy could clarify if that is what she is seeking?

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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I have been very clear. I believe that the DDDA is responsible for this development. It engaged in a PPP with Bernard McNamara, who is not available to deal with this or pay for any of it, so the DDDA is responsible and ought to pay and the Minister ought to ensure that it does so.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy is out of order.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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So that is the Deputy's position and that will be referred to the Minister in question.