Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 1080: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is satisfied with the rate of compliance with Part M of the building regulations; if he will make improvements to legislation so as to improve access to disabled persons, especially to public buildings; his views on whether the definition of a public building should be broadened to include even the parts of a building that members of the public would not generally access; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10386/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Building Control Act 1990, compliance with Part M of the building regulations, which relates to access of people with disabilities, is primarily the responsibility of the designers, builders and owners of buildings. The enforcement of Part M is the function of the local building control authority.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, with the co-operation of building control authorities, conducted a survey of such compliance in the case of non-domestic buildings in 2003, as part of the European year of people with disabilities. Almost 600 buildings were covered by the survey, of which over one third did not fully comply with Part M. Local authorities sought to achieve full compliance by seeking the co-operation of building owners or by instituting enforcement action.

The results of the survey confirm a disappointing level of compliance with Part M. The Department has for some years been pressing building control authorities to step up enforcement and, in particular, to give priority to the enforcement of Part M. It is clear that seeking full compliance with Part M in a completed building involves serious practical problems and that such problems should be avoided by checking compliance at the design stage. Accordingly, the proposed building control (amendment) Bill will provide for the introduction of a disability access certificate system, as recommended by the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. Under this system, the designs of non-domestic buildings and apartment blocks will have to be certified by the local building control authority as being compliant with Part M before work commences. This will be similar to the existing fire safety certificate system, whereby designs are certified as compliant with Part B — fire safety — of the building regulations.

Part M of the 1997 building regulations required disabled access within a building, but it was restricted to those parts of a building to which it is reasonable to have access. This restriction has been removed by amending Part M regulations made in 2000 which require, without qualification, that adequate provision should be made to enable people with disabilities to access independently and use a building.