John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is a significant and lengthy Bill that runs to 65 sections, as he referenced. That is why he has not managed to get through all of his speech thus far. The Bill and its provisions are contained in the Housing for All policy document produced by the Government. It is an important measure to put the register on a statutory footing.

Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill was carried out by the previous joint committee back in 2017. I was not a member of the committee at the time but I know Senator Boyhan and possibly other Members were on it and there was significant engagement and wide consultation. Many of the details have been incorporated in the Bill.

The main objective of the Bill is to develop and promote a culture of competence, good practice and compliance with the building regulations in the construction sector, which will benefit consumers and the public. The building control regulations 2015 to 2017 required the owner of a proposed building to sign a statutory form assigning a competent builder to undertake works. In general, building regulations require owners, builders and registered construction professionals to demonstrate that the works in question have been designed and constructed in compliance with building regulations. However, the regulations do not require that the builder so assigned be registered with the Construction Industry Register Ireland, CIRI. That is what we are trying to resolve here by putting it on a statutory footing. This is critical for developing a culture and competency within the construction sector. It has been in place on a voluntary basis since 2014 and administered by the Construction Industry Federation, CIF. As the Minister of State noted, there are approximately 800 building and contracting entities on the register. As it is expected that number will increase considerably, to up to approximately 5,000 entities, it is appropriate to have a lead-in period because it will take considerable time, notwithstanding the urgency of getting it in place on a statutory footing.

I welcome that the legislation provides that the register is open to all builders, whether sole traders, partnerships or registered companies. They must demonstrate competence in construction at the appropriate level, commit to continuing professional development and knowledge of building practice, building regulations and regulatory obligations, and confirm tax compliance. As part of that, there is a declaration that any convictions under health and safety or building control legislation, or both, are provided for. They must have the appropriate public liability insurance and must undertake to adhere to the code of conduct, as well as completing the CIRI induction module online. Those are all important provisions within the Bill.

An important provision of the Bill is that which allows for complaints against registered builders to be made on several grounds. In particular, a complaint may be made against an entity providing a building service in a category for which it is not registered. There have been incidents in the past where people and contractors have been engaged in building and construction without the appropriate qualifications and competencies being in place, with disastrous effect. It is welcome that there is a measure to allow complaints to be made. Obviously, those complaints will be adjudicated by the registration and appeals board.

In summation, I welcome the Bill. It is an important and welcome step to put this register on a statutory footing. That lead-in time is appropriate. All present would like it in place more quickly but there is a significant body of work to be done to get all that in place within 2023, given the anticipated increase from 800 to more than 5,000 entities. I wish the Minister of State well as we take the Bill through the various Stages and I look forward to engaging on Committee and Report Stages.