Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 198: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding the re-introduction of the Construction Contracts Bill; if the revised Bill will address the concerns of small contractors who were excluded from redress under the terms of the previous draft; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35470/11]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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2057You will be aware that the Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce new legislation to protect small building subcontractors that have been denied payments from bigger companies. In this regard, my colleague Minister of State Mr Brian Hayes has been working with Senator Quinn to develop the Construction Contracts Bill, which is now before the Dáil, into a robust piece of legislation. In order to address a number of issues that were raised during the consultation on the Bill a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was carried out. The RIA was completed and published on 27 September. The Report is available on my Department's website: www.per.gov.ie/reports.

The RIA examined issues relating to payment practices in the construction sector and assessed the need for legislative intervention. It found that legislation is desirable to improve payment practices and to allow swift resolution of payment disputes by way of adjudication, allowing projects to be completed without wasting time and money in litigation. In addition, the RIA examined the main proposals to amend the Bill that were raised during the Seanad debate and subsequent consultation. It found that there were merits to considering amending the Bill in a number of respects e.g. to bring lower value contracts within its scope and to make the adjudicators award binding in payment dispute cases. It concluded that any such amendments should be formulated in such a manner that would protect the taxpayer.

Minister Hayes is now reflecting on the findings of the RIA and is preparing legislative proposals which will be brought to Government shortly for approval. It is essential that the solution to this issue needs to be balanced so as to avoid imposing regulatory or cost burdens on parties in dispute, the State or others.