Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. He is busy as a result of yesterday's budget, so I thank him for attending the House to debate this important issue, which has been raised by Business Retail Union Ireland, BRUI, a group formed by the retail trade and subcontractors in the construction industry to defend their causes.

The Construction Contracts Act was first introduced in this House by my colleague, Senator Quinn, and signed into law by the President in 2013. It is important legislation, providing as it does for enforceable staged payments to subcontractors, removing the possibility of payments being withheld for extended periods of time and establishing an adjudication system to deal with disputes. It is a robust Act but, to date, it has not been commenced.

Dr. Nael Bunni has been appointed as chairperson of the construction contracts adjudication panel and the closing date for applications to the ministerial panel of adjudicators has recently passed. When will the panel will be in place and when will the Act be commenced? Why, after two years, has the code of practice for the conduct of adjudication not yet been finalised and published? May we have a definitive date for its publication, please? As it is five years since the Bill was introduced and two years since it became law, a larger question is why the Government has delayed for so long in removing the administrative impediments to the Act's commencement. Surely, this process could have been initiated immediately after the Act was signed. That it took two full years to appoint a chairman and a panel and to draft a code of practice is nothing short of scandalous.