Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Amendments Nos. 7 to 10, inclusive, 12 and 13 are related. The amendments provide for the recoupment by local councils of the costs incurred in the taking of enforcement measures by authorities in breaches of the building code. The amendments arose from proceedings on Report Stage in the Dáil. My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, accepted their principle and promised that further consideration would be given to them at an appropriate time. I now propose a suitable text that will give effect to the outcome of the debate that took place in the Dáil.

A number of issues have been raised by the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disability Federation of Ireland and I am glad to propose them for inclusion in the Bill. One of my greatest disappointments as a councillor, Senator, Deputy and Minister is that people are still blind to the difficulties of those who are wheelchair bound or who suffer from a disability, particularly in respect of access. One would have thought that by now everyone involved in planning at any point would automatically consider the issue of access. However, these requests were made and will be included in the Bill.

Amendments Nos. 7, 8, 10 and 12 provide for amendments to sections 8 to 10, inclusive, to provide for the recoupment by council authorities of any costs or expenses reasonably incurred by an authority in the taking of enforcement procedures. It also applies where the application has been made under section 9 to the District Court by a person for an annulment, modification or alteration of an enforcement notice served. In addition, it applies to costs incurred by authorities in making application to the Circuit Court or the High Court under section 12 of the 1990 Act for an order of removal, alteration, discontinuation of works or making safe any building or prohibiting or restricting the use of any building under a fire safety certificate, a disability access certificate or a regularisation certificate. The cost may include the cost of investigation and the detection of matters, the issue of warnings prior to the service of the notice and the remuneration or any other expenses of employees, consultants and advisers involved in the process. The costs may be recouped as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction. Amendment No. 13 which is consequential is a renumbering amendment.

As a general principle, when enforcement procedures must be followed, the taxpayer should not be obliged to bear the cost. From my experience in my constituency of dealing with issues such illegal dumping, I am aware that massive legal and investigative costs were incurred which ultimately fell on the taxpayer. There is something fundamentally wrong with this. Those who set out to do wrong should be obliged to bear the full cost of their wrongdoing. Consequently, the legislation will be strengthened by this measure and the changes will be welcomed, as they were in the other House.