Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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187. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the problems with supplies of homes, his views that there is a need to abolish the building-design-and-assign inspection fees incurred at tremendous costs to persons wanting to add home extensions; his further views that by ending this cost, families may add extensions, and thus alleviate housing waiting lists in many cases; and if and when this charge will be abolished. [18722/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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My Department has given preliminary consideration to the arrangements in place for oversight of new single dwellings and extensions to existing dwellings in advance of the full review of the broader operation of the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 9 of 2014) which is currently open to public consultation until 15 May 2015.

While fees for professional services are determined by market forces and are therefore outside the scope of my regulatory powers, I recognise the importance of ensuring that the regulations do not impact unduly on one-off housing and extensions to dwellings, particularly in relation to cost. A number of options for addressing this issue have therefore been included in the documents released for public consultation on 2 April 2014, which are available on my Department’s website at the following weblink:

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On conclusion of the public consultation process my Department will produce an early report on the matter with a view to ensuring that any measures required can be put in place as a matter of priority.