Results 8,421-8,440 of 15,265 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 9: In page 17, line 16, after “may” to insert “following consultation with the Minister and the Oireachtas”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 12: In page 18, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “(10) The registration body shall seek the views of the relevant Oireachtas Committee on its annual report in person or in writing as requested by that Committee.”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 13: In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(f) establishment of a statutory skills register;”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 14: In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(f) accessing the National Training Fund for upskilling construction sector workforce;”. This is one of the amendments that we do not expect the Minister of State will accept but it gives us an opportunity to raise an important issue that is relevant to the Bill. If the Minister of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am sorry; I did not realise they were grouped. I will speak to amendment No. 15 very briefly. Amendment No. 15 is for me a really significant omission from the Bill. The absence in the code of practice of adherence to the requirements of the building regulations seems to be an omission. I know that the drafters of the Bill are keeping a clear distinction between building control...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister of State might send that note in respect of upskilling to the clerk to the committee rather than to me directly in order that the entire committee can benefit from it. I have one additional point to make in respect of this matter. I have spoken to a number of medium-sized contractors in different parts of the country. One of the concerning things they told me was that they...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I would make the point on record that while section 39 talks about continuous professional development, it does not explicitly make reference to building regulations or building control. It is, therefore, still a very general provision.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Many things that were intended to be captured by the Building Control Act 1990 ultimately were not. I will press the amendment.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Absolutely; I thank the Minister of State for that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 15: In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(f) adherence to the requirements of the Building Regulations;”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 16: In page 19, line 31, to delete “such members of its staff as it thinks fit to be” and substitute “independent”. Section 21 relates to the appointment of inspectors. I have a question which will determine whether I press the amendment, which is just to clarify two elements of section 21. I first want to clarify the function of the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is very welcome but I want to tease this out so I have an understanding of the section. For the benefit of the committee, the Minister of State might outline what the functions of these inspectors are.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Let me make the point for the proposition that I am making and I will then withdraw the amendment, although I reserve the right to reintroduce it depending on what the Minister of State returns with on Report Stage. This again goes back to that point about the need for an independent process. I would find it completely unacceptable that staff members of the Construction Industry Federation...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will withdraw the amendment but I reserve the right to reintroduce.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: We do not know if contractors are compliant or not. I am not at all casting aspersions on any contractor but we simply do not know. The number of complaints and strike-offs on the registers of architects and chartered surveyors is tiny. In fact, when we did pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill in 2017 or 2018, the committee was surprised when we brought in representatives of the Royal...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 6: In page 12, line 2, after “person” to insert “through the Public Appointments Service”. These four amendments speak to the same issue. They all relate to appointments by the Minister. In the first instance, it is the person under section 9 who would be appointed by the Minister to carry out periodic inspections, reviews, audits, etc....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is as simple as something like that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: This a very strange way to constitute the board. I will outline my objections to the section and then propose my alternative. I see no reason the chair of the board should exclusively be any of the four categories stated, namely, a former judge, a practising solicitor, a practising barrister or a registered construction professional. I do not think a registered construction professional...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I welcome the Minister of State's generosity throughout the meeting. That is genuinely a positive thing. We would be more than open to some alternative formulation of this amendment. I agree with Deputies O'Callaghan and Nash about the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. There is a whole set of concerns for workers working for registered companies but there is also the very significant issue...