Results 1,641-1,660 of 5,132 for speaker:Trevor Ó Clochartaigh

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I thank Ms Neary for clarifying that. The other issue that strikes me is that we could have all the standards and rule books in the world but they are all voluntary. Therefore, if I was to hire a plumber to build my house, they put in a substandard system that does not comply with the standards and I notice it is substandard, what could I do? What recourse do I have?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I understand that but do the witnesses imagine that what we are looking at in this case would have been referenced in the building regulations? Would that be normal?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: To go back to my rogue plumber, if I was in a situation like that mentioned by the petitioner, do I have any comeback?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Yet it is not necessarily illegal. If I drive over the speed limit, the reference is the speed limit and if I break that speed limit, there is a law to enforce the fact that I have gone over it. Is there any penalty for a rogue plumber to really incentivise them if there are shortcuts to be taken that would save money, if they decide that the penalties are not that serious and if they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: To answer the question, what Ms Neary is saying is that the onus is on me as the owner of the house to check and to find out that there is an issue and then it is up to me to challenge the plumber who installed the system. Possibly the only route I might have is to take them to court if I feel they have not applied the standard. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Are those the regulations that were brought in last year where I would have to hire an engineer as part of the building process and they would certify-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Prior to that, adhering to the standards of the day was really at the behest of the developer, builder or plumber in question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Sorry for being pedantic but could Mr. Vaughan explain the difference between a voluntary standard and something that is legally enforceable?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: To return to the petition, I want to clarify this point because we will be coming back to this at a later date. The petition alludes to the fact that potentially over 100,000 households might be affected by the issue with this particular type of non-return valve. Is it possible that so many houses in Ireland might be affected by a faulty non-return valve or water being contaminated by the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: On the flip-side of that, Mr. Smyth does not have any evidence that it has not occurred. There is no evidence either way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I am trying to play devil's advocate on behalf of the petitioner.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: There is no evidence either way and there is no way we could know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: Mr. Vaughan said not a single case has been brought to his attention.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I just wanted Mr. Vaughan to clarify that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: We had better not diverge too much.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: On a point I wanted to raise with the Department, Ms Neary referenced the RGII and the gas boiler installation. Quite a while back, a case was referred to in the Dáil where more than 100,000 gas boilers were found to have been installed illegally. That was in a sector which the Department has referenced as being quite regulated and where the standards have been reached. It was said...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I suppose I am pointing to the use of the regulation. At least, the regulation in that scenario has pointed up a big problem in that area. We could potentially have a similar problem in the plumbing area but, because of the lack of regulation, we will not know. Is that the point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: That type of evidence is not being collected and we have no mechanism to collect that type of data at present.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I appreciate that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Central Heating Systems: Regulation of Plumbing Standards (7 Oct 2015)

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh: I am trying to surmise that even from the point of view of water, which we are looking at here, we do not seem to have such a regulatory regime where that type of issue would be picked up on.