Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Reilly for raising the issue, which I am happy to take on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Hogan.

I am aware of the role and contribution made by architectural technologists in the design and construction of dwellings and other buildings. The recent building control amendment regulations empower competence and professionalism in construction activity and, as such, will increase the opportunities available for all competent and qualified persons in the industry, not least the architectural technologist. The new regulations strengthen the arrangements in place for the control of building activity by requiring greater accountability in compliance with building regulations. In particular, statutory certificates of compliance must be signed by a registered professional, such as an architect or a building surveyor registered in line with the Building Control Act 2007 or a chartered engineer registered under earlier legislation. These are the professional groupings typically involved in the design of construction works in Ireland.

Depending on their personal circumstances it may be open to individual members of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists, CIAT, to seek inclusion on the statutory registers and a significant number have succeeded in becoming so registered. There is no question of persons who are not included on the statutory registers being permitted to sign certificates of compliance for building control purposes. It is worth noting that registration of title became necessary in order to protect consumers from persons passing themselves off as architects, surveyors or engineers, and this is still happening. It will be less likely to occur now that statutory certificates must be given by registered professionals.

The Department has engaged openly and constructively with CIAT on this matter and it has outlined a number of options in keeping with the Building Control Act 2007 that may be pursued to develop the arrangements in place for the registration of its chartered architectural technologist members. This engagement has led to CIAT presenting separate cases for recognition of its chartered members under both the surveyor and the architect registers, based on benchmarking the competence of their chartered members against the existing routes to registration. The SCSI and the RIAI, as the registration bodies for the relevant professions and as the competent authorities in Ireland for the purposes of the EU directive on the recognition of professional qualifications, are considering the cases put forward by CIAT.

Neither the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government nor his Department has any role in the assessment or the validation of professional qualifications in this manner and they cannot pre-empt the outcome in either case. However, should the SCSI or the RIAI determine that the competence of the chartered architectural technologist is equivalent to the requirements for inclusion on either register, it would fall on the Minister to bring forward relevant suitable amendments to the Building Control Act 2007.