Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

Like other speakers, I would like to express my good wishes to those living in Priory Hall in Dublin. It is appalling that people have to move out of their homes because of faulty building standards. It is symptomatic of what took place in this country over the past ten to 15 years, when there was very light regulation of myriad sectors.

It is a shame to say that four or five years ago one could put the phrase "architectural services" over one's door and masquerade as an architect even though one might not have had any qualifications whatsoever. One could also call oneself a quasi-engineer and get away with it. The problem is that thousands of people handed over good money to such people and expected their facilities to be properly certified. Ordinary decent people put their faith in the hands of so-called professionals who have turned out to be not at all professional or ethical in the way they did their business.

I agree with Senator MacSharry. The people who are responsible for this need to be brought to justice. I admire the judge who said he is going to monitor the situation on a weekly basis. I have no doubt that he will ensure there will be prosecutions. It is an appalling situation. I ask the Leader for a debate on the regulation of the architectural and engineering industries. Are they regulated enough? Has the new legislation covered them and dealt with the obvious flaws in the system over the past decade?

We need to ensure that what happened in north Dublin never happens again in any new building. Are other investigations taking place? Does the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government have concerns about other apartment blocks in the city or elsewhere in the country?