Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I would also like to welcome Senator Norris back to the House again. Many here are disappointed that he is back in the House; not because he is not welcome, but because we thought he might be in a different house on this occasion. I would like to add my words of welcome to the President elect, Michael D. Higgins. He will add great stature to that house. He is following in the footsteps of people who have done a wonderful job in the past, but I am sure he will enhance that role in the future. It is also an honour for this House, as he is a former Member of the Seanad.

I have been involved in quite a few building projects over the last 50 years and we always got the work done by employing an architect or an engineer to ensure that the building work went ahead correctly. I say this because I am concerned at the reduction in the number of clerks of works for State and county council contracts from 4,000 to 120 over the last few years. This means that when an architect or an engineer commissions a builder to do work for the county council or the State - I am not too worried about private contracts between parties, because they can look after themselves - I would assume they inspect that the work is actually going ahead. If clerks of works are not employed, the likelihood is that the work is not being checked. In other words, the architect or the engineer designs the work, commissions the work, and then assumes it is done and comes back and looks at it later. If the builder decides to take a short cut and nobody is there to inspect that the work is being done, then what happened in Priory Hall and many other building sites is likely to happen again.

There is a need for something to happen here. I am not sure of the answer, but if the number of clerks of works has been reduced from 4,000 to 120, then it is fairly clear that work is likely to have gone ahead uninspected and the sort of problems we have had in Priory Hall and elsewhere are likely to continue. The Minister responsible for this area should come in here and answer that issue for us, and at least investigate it and see if it is taking place.

I would also add my voice to those Senators who called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to come in here for a debate, with the principal agenda of the closing of embassies. Let us make sure this does not just happen on a whim. I am in danger of thinking the closing of the embassy in the Vatican is a whim rather than anything else while leaving embassies open such as those in Lesotho and Malawi. There is a much closer relationship between the people of Ireland and the Holy See than in the case of some of the other embassies. The word has been correctly expressed by Senators Byrne and Mullen as to the need and benefits of that relationship. We should not allow this to happen on the whim of one person or one Government. It should take place after a discussion and this is the perfect House for that discussion.