Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 901: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he accepts the recommendations of the Competition Authority in relation to architects and the need for an independent body to be set up in the Building Control Bill and that same be implemented in the legislation. [10908/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Building Control Bill 2005 assigns a limited role only to the registration body, RIAI. First, the basic registration eligibility criteria are specified in the Bill and will not be determined by the registration body. Second, key decisions on admission of individual applicants to the register of architects will not be made by the registration body, but by an admission board and technical assessment board.

There will also be the safeguard of the right of appeal against refusal of registration to an appeals board and, ultimately, to the High Court. Finally, the Bill provides that a majority of the members of the various boards will be lay persons, non-architects, under the chairmanship of a retired judge or a lawyer.

Having regard to the above, it is not proposed to accept the suggestions of the Competition Authority to amend the provisions of the Building Control Bill 2005 in relation to registration arrangements. However, the authority has proposed a number of other detailed amendments of the Bill which I will take into account on Committee Stage.