Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

——on the use of the word. They certainly were not oleaginous. I make the point that if lobby groups want to be listened to and to have their views taken on board, the least they can do to assist this and the other House, as Senator Norris said, is to be timely with the suggestions they put forward. As the Senator also said, their waiting until the eve of his coming to this House to make a further contribution on this Bill does not show the kind of professionalism I would have expected of them, particularly given that the legislation was published in 2005 and there was full consultation on it. I am not sure if some of the consultations were oleaginous but there was full consultation on the Bill and the opportunity was presented to discuss it.

It is extraordinary that amendments that were not suggested on Second, Committee or Report Stages in the Dáil or on Second Stage in the Seanad should be brought forward at this time. It is not a professional or appropriate way to do business. It shows scant regard for the consultation process and for the urgency, from the point of view of all involved in architecture, to have this legislation be enacted. More importantly, it shows scant regard for the necessity to protect in law the victims of people who profess to be architects but are not capable of drawing two lines on a sheet of paper, of whom, unfortunately, there are a number. All one need do is consult a planning department in any part of the country and one will discover there are people who debase the professional title and who have no skills or experience. They do not have the experience to be found in the longer standing practices whose members may not have the academic qualifications.

There is a compelling urgency for the enactment of this legislation from the point of view of protecting the title and from that of protecting the consumer. I know of scandalous cases involving a character in my constituency, who puts himself forward as an architect and who has submitted plans, which border on the fraudulent, to the local authority and has then told unfortunate clients that he would advise them to telephone the local councillor and push this issue. That is not professional.

It is extraordinary, therefore, that these amendments were not suggested at any time up to this. It seems the Bill has had the longest gestation period of any legislation we have handled during the lifetime of this Dáil. More importantly, the concerns at the core of these amendments are addressed in the legislation. I draw the attention of the House to the various parts in the legislation which specify the eligibility criteria for automatic admission to registration and which set out the procedures designed to ensure that all applicants are treated in a fair and transparent manner. Senator Norris was concerned that there should be fairness and transparency, and this has been provided for in the legislation. No convincing argument can be made for this extraordinary degree of change at, literally, the 11th hour, the 59th minute and probably the 58th second. I compliment Senator Bannon on making the effort to incorporate everything but sometimes it is better not to listen to the lobby.