Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I echo the warm welcome you have issued, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, to our visitors, including the Australian ambassador to Ireland. It is good to see him here.I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to take this important Commencement matter. I have no doubt that many colleagues will be aware of people who, in good faith, either bought a house or had a house built by a contractor and who were properly bonded and insured. People who either purchased or built such a house would have had professionals checking out the bonds to ensure there was proper insurance and so forth but, some years later, would have discovered defects. However, when they sought redress, in some cases the builders had gone out of business. There is no form of come back for them. Companies have gone bust, so to speak. In some cases, people retained professional expertise who did not do their job in terms of ensuring there were proper bonds, insurance and redress in place if something were to go wrong. There are such people, and thankfully they are a minority, in every county, including in my county, and we need to do something to help them because they are living in homes that are defective and, in some cases, not habitable. Some of them have to move out because the home has to be demolished. They are in turmoil because they do not know how they will fund the retrofitting or, in some cases, the demolition and rebuilding of their homes.

Much has been done to help people, particularly by this Government, but this is a group in our society that deserves some help from the Government. The economy has turned a corner. Building has commenced again. We are in a better position financially than we were previously. In these minority of cases, something should be done to give some comfort to people who find themselves in such a terrible position.

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Conway for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the distressing and stressful circumstances the owners and residents of buildings must face where building defects emerge. However, in general, building defects are matters for resolution between the contracting parties involved, the homeowner, the builder, the developer and-or their respective insurers, structural guarantee or warranty scheme.

It is important to note that while the Department has overall responsibility for establishing and maintaining an effective regulatory framework for building standards and building control, it has no general statutory role in resolving defects in privately owned buildings, including dwellings, nor does it have a budget for such matters. In this regard, it is incumbent on the parties responsible for poor workmanship and-or the supply of defective materials to face up to their responsibilities and take appropriate action to provide remedies for the affected homeowners.

The issue of legal redress for homeowners in respect of property transactions is a complex matter, with potential implications for the entire legal system as well as for the insurance industry. In this context, in February 2018, the Department wrote to the Law Reform Commission and also corresponded with those involved in the review of the administration of civil justice in Ireland requesting that they consider the issue of effective and accessible legal remedies for homeowners who discover defects in their homes.

Under the Building Control Acts 1990 to 2014, primary responsibility for compliance of works with the requirements of the building regulations, including Part B on fire safety, rests with the owners, designers and builders of buildings. Enforcement of the building regulations is a matter for the 31 local building control authorities, which have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the Acts and which are independent in the use of their statutory powers.

In August 2017, the Department published a framework for enhancing fire safety in dwellings where concerns arise.The framework is intended to be used as a guide by the owners and occupants of dwellings where fire safety deficiencies have been identified or are a cause for concern. The framework will also be of assistance to professional advisers, both in developing strategies to improve fire safety and in developing strategies to enable continued occupation in advance of undertaking necessary works to ensure compliance with the relevant building regulations. In response to the many building failures that have emerged in the past decade, the Department introduced the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations to the 2014 Act which require greater accountability on the compliance with building regulations in the form of statutory certification of design and construction by registered construction professionals and builders, lodgement of compliance documentation, mandatory inspections during construction and validation and registration of certificates. A certificate of compliance on completion is jointly signed by the builder and the assigned certifier. This must be accompanied by plans and documentation to show how the constructed building complies with the building regulations and also the inspection plan as implemented. Parallel with the 2014 regulations, a project is in place in the Local Government Management Agency to improve the effectiveness of the building control system. A number of enhancements have been delivered to date and others are in progress. Ultimately this work will be embedded in a centralised structure for the governance and oversight of building control as a shared service in a lead local authority. Last year the Government approved the draft heads of a Bill to place the Construction Industry Register Ireland on a statutory footing and the Bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government for pre-legislative scrutiny. The committee's report was received on 14 December 2017 and the Department is considering its recommendations, with a view to progressing the drafting as soon as possible. Once it is enacted, the Bill will provide consumers who engage a registered builder with the assurance that they are dealing with a competent and compliant operator and will complement the reforms which have been made through the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations and contribute to the development of an enhanced culture of competence and compliance in the construction sector.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, for a comprehensive reply. The positives in this are that we are taking a much more hands on approach in managing and regulating builders compared to the complete and total light touch regulation that existed prior to, and during, the last economic boom. That is good and it is reassuring for people who, in good faith, hire a contractor to build a home. Of course the problem now is that contractors, who are prepared to build one off houses, are few and far between because a lot of our builders unfortunately emigrated and have made lives for themselves abroad. I thank the Minister of State for that reply, which I will study. I will bring it back to Clare County Council which passed a motion that there should be a redress scheme. I have no doubt we will have a further engagement on this important matter in due course.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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That concludes this matter unless the Minister of State wants to come back in.

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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No.