Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 8, 9 and 15 collectively propose insertions relating to the considerations of universal design, sustainable development and accessibility to services as set out in section 52 of the Disability Act 2005. The concept of universal design centres on achieving a built environment that can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of age, size or disability, is something we all support. All new buildings, including social housing units, must comply with the legally enforceable minimum performance standards set out in the building regulations for 1997 to 2014. In this context, the building regulation Part M amendment of the 2010 regulations and the accompanying technical guidance document for access and use, which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out the minimum statutory requirements applicable to new buildings and existing buildings where new works and material alteration or material change of use is proposed.

In essence, Part M of the building regulations aims to foster an inclusive approach to the design and construction of the built environment. The Part M requirements may be regarded as a statutory minimum level of provision but the accompanying technical guidance encourages building owners and designers to have regard to the design philosophy of universal design and consider making additional provisions where practicable and appropriate. The latest iteration of Part M of the building regulations initially coincided with the general downturn in economic and construction activity and its positive effects on access and its use in the built environment should now be seen more widely as the economy recovers and continues to take hold and, more important, as construction activity increases and moves to a more sustainable footing.

As the issues proposed by the Senators are already covered in the existing building standards regulations and associated technical guidance, it is not appropriate or necessary to include provision for these matters specifically in the Bill. As suggested, these are matters more appropriate to building control and standards legislation rather than planning legislation. I understand the point made by the Senators in that sometimes we need a belt and braces approach. The thinking is although these elements are required by the building standards, regulations and guidance document, if we require developers to have this as part of their applications, they might be forced to think about the issue and prioritise it. The only problem is if we start down that road, there is a series of issues under building standards documentation and legislation that we could decide must be part of the planning process. What the Senators are asking for is already required and as long as there is a proper inspection service to ensure it is followed through, we do not have much to worry about. It is not right to essentially put what may be a very important issue into legislation when it is already fully covered.

I am not proposing to accept the amendments. That is not because I do not agree with their proposals, as I do very strongly. Many developers may argue that if they did not have to do X or Y, they could build houses more cheaply, etc., but although the standards and progress that has been made in regulations make houses more expensive to build, it should become the norm. We have not really seen the building regulations take effect to the extent that they might have if we had not seen a building collapse, as they came at more or less the same time. Now we will see a dramatic increase in the number of social housing and private units built and the building regulations will simply be a standard part of the process that builders and developers must comply with. The issue is enforcement and inspection rather than pretending to do something already covered by putting something into the legislation that is not needed, given it is already catered for in other legislation.