Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will introduce a requirement that his Department undertake an annual audit of construction costs as recommended by the housing and homelessness committee; his views that the current system of building control is appropriate and provides for safe and cost-effective oversight of building during design and construction. [28798/16]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has acknowledged that the problem with the housing situation is the lack of supply. Key to holding back supply is the cost of building. The special housing committee acknowledged this during the course of its deliberations. All known stakeholders in and experts on this area have also acknowledged it. Yet, remarkably, there is no specific Government research on construction costs. Nor is there a mention of addressing this issue in the plan. Like many others, I could talk all day about how the development levies of local authorities, the VAT content and the certification costs in terms of building regulations are impediments in this regard, but we need recommendations that are independent and can be backed up. We should not be depending on the industry to provide that information. Will the Minister of State consider committing to doing what we are asking?

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy rightly signalled, the issue of cost in the deliver and supply of housing is of grave concern to us all. There are numerous commitments and a broad range of measures to tackle the cost of same and to make it easier to increase supply. Some 84 actions are set out in the action plan. Most aim to increase activity and supply while making housing more affordable. There have already been changes to Part 8 requirements, levy requirements and many other aspects. These enable the more affordable construction of housing, the opening up of sites and easier delivery. Under one of the actions, we are considering paying upfront for Part V housing in recognition of the fact that raising money is difficult.

Recommendation No. 6 of the Committee on Housing and Homelessness calls for a detailed audit every year. We have not committed in the action plan to having that audit every year. Rather, we have committed to a detailed analysis, as a follow-up to the recent National Competitiveness Council research on this matter and in conjunction with the construction sector, in order to benchmark housing delivery input costs in Ireland. The intention is to publish the findings with a view to identifying economies. Our Department has started preliminary work on analysing costs as well as on the various reports and international studies that, for example, compare costs in Ireland with those in the UK and the rest of Europe. We will have ongoing consultation with the stakeholders in the sector in the months ahead to determine how, if possible, to affect costs.

The Deputy mentioned increased regulatory costs, but these have been disputed. Figures of €20,000 and €30,000 have been cited. I urge the committee to analyse these. In our work, we have met many of those involved in regulation and certification roles. It does not have to cost €20,000 or €30,000. It accounts for much less than 2% of the build cost, putting it at lower than €3,000 or €4,000. In some cases, it is much cheaper. I have met people involved in the business who can do a good job providing the service for €1,000 per unit.

While increasing housing supply, we must not neglect quality. We have all dealt with issues concerning low standards and a lack of quality in our areas in recent years. A developer might claim that it cost more to reach the quality mark in the past, but the administration and certification under the regulations do not cost €20,000 or €30,000, so it is wrong to keep saying that it does.

As to the committee's recommendation, we are doing that, only not in the exact way that the committee wanted us to. We have started that work because it is an important part.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I do not agree with his assertion that ongoing consultation with the sector regarding the costs associated with building and the provision of housing is adequate in the space in which we find ourselves, particularly in light of the fact that supply is key to addressing this issue. It is remarkable that there is no State-sponsored reporting. We are in an emergency and I earnestly ask the Minister of State and the Minister to reconsider this and ask the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, to publish quarterly reports so that, if this is a myth - it is not - it can be put to bed.

The Minister of State mentioned the various options concerning levies. The Minister made a commitment to me in recent months that he would consider asking his Department to pass judgment and examine the certification methods that exist in the UK.

They have a €1,200 certification cost. I am not saying all of these are €20,000 or €30,000 but they are much more than €1,200. Where this element has been identified as a barrier, in addition to VAT and other costs, it is incumbent on us to address it. I ask the House Finance Agency to bring quarterly reports. The Minister has previously committed to examining the certification issue and to come back to the House.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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We are probably achieving the same thing. Our Department is analysing this cost and has done much preliminary work over the past couple of months. It will now engage with the various sectors to progress that analysis and see how we can affect these costs. There are numerous reports out there already. The report from 2015 compares costs in other countries and it is worthy of studying. We are using that as part of our analysis as well. There may be a difference in labour costs but with many other costs, we are approximately the same and come in at a cost level less than many countries in Europe in terms of construction costs.

We recognise the overall cost of a house is too high and we are trying to bring down that cost where possible and there is genuine space to do so. The Deputy is quoting a UK model in saying certification costs €1,200 there but I have engaged with companies that can do it for even less. It does not have to cost €5,000, €6,000, €10,000 or €20,000 for certification costs or to monitor regulations. The Deputy, the committee Chairman and members of the committee are here and the committee could feed into the work of the Department by analysing this and engaging with the people involved with certification so we can see what are the costs. We should examine the use of technology as I am not convinced that some of the certifiers with large bills are availing of modern technology to help with the certification.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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If we do not respect the clock, some Members will not be able to get questions answered today.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I remind the Minister that the special housing committee considered this. After the election it met and made recommendations to the Minister that fed into his Rebuilding Ireland programme. We welcome the commitment he made to produce that plan and I look forward to various legislation emanating from the plan so we can debate, analyse, scrutinise and, I hope, amend legislation in order to bring forward better legislation for the House. This relates to one of the key recommendations and there is no need for the committee to meet again to formulate the same recommendation. I ask the Department to analyse the system in the UK and the North of Ireland to see if it can be used here, at least on a pilot basis in various counties.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am not saying the committee should meet again to formulate new recommendations. I am saying if the Deputy really believes in this, it would be worth the committee's time to analyse the certification costs, as those figures are being thrown out there. I am not convinced they are reasonable costs. The Department is examining the costs and we will publish the findings. That is not an issue. The committee, as a public forum, could thrash out the costs of certification and regulation. It would be a worthwhile exercise.

The specific request was that there be an annual audit and we are not committing to that yet in our action plan for housing. We are analysing the cost. We are doing the same work but we are not committing to doing it annually, as was recommended in the report. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has stated on numerous occasions that we recognise the value of the work done in that committee. Many of the recommendations feature strongly in the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. We want to continue working in that partnership together. Additionally, the committee could be a useful forum for analysing some of those costs in that area. There is a great disparity in the figures and they should be examined further. We will do it and I recommend the committee does the same.