Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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510. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the status of architects and the building control regulations (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3971/16]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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511. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will restore market competition through the adoption of the Architects' Alliance of Ireland's special entry route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3997/16]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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516. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the so-called grandfather clause that was to apply to self-taught and long practicing architects; if he will comprehensively and finally address this matter in the interest of those directly affected and before the conclusion of the Dáil Éireann term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4063/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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545. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the status of progress made arising from a meeting in September 2015 with the Architects' Alliance of Ireland on the issue of registration of practice trained architects under the Building Control Act 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4347/16]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 510, 511, 516 and 545 together.

The statutory arrangements for the registration of architects are set out under Part 3 of the Building Control Act 2007. Section 22 of the Act makes specific provision for the registration , based on technical assessment, of persons who had been independently performing duties commensurate with those of an architect for a period of 10 or more years in the State prior to the commencement of the Act. This is in effect what is often colloquially referred to as a “grandfather” provision.

In general, a construction professional who is not included on any of the three statutory registers for Architects, Building Surveyors or Chartered Engineers is not entitled to use the relevant professional titles of Architect, Building Surveyor or Chartered Engineer and may not sign statutory certificates of compliance for building control purposes.

In 2013, in response in particular to the lower than anticipated rate of applications for inclusion on the Register of Architects through the technical assessment route, an independent review of the arrangements in place for registration was undertaken by Mr Garret Fennell, Solicitor. Mr Fennell’s report on the matter is available on my Department’s website and can be accessed by clicking on the following weblink

.

The Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht also examined the matter and published its Report on the Title of Architect (July 2013).

Both reports, which were welcomed by my Department, made a number of recommendations intended to improve and streamline the arrangements for registration. Implementation of these recommendations, in consultation with the Architects Alliance of Ireland (AAI) and others, has seen a number of reforms being implemented which include the administration of the technical assessment process on a cyclical basis where briefing, guidance and support for candidates can be administered in a structured manner; mentoring and supporting applicants; facilitating assessment based on recent projects; facilitating applicants with reassessment/reapplication (i.e. ensuring that the technical assessment procedure is not seen as a one chance only route to registration); and reviewing and simplifying guidance materials with direct input from practice-trained persons.

The recent review of the Building Control Regulations afforded the opportunity for further consideration of the matter in the context of broadening the pool of persons who may certify building works for building control purposes. In this regard, Minister Kelly and I have both reaffirmed our commitment to continuing to work with stakeholders to identify, as an alternative to the existing technical assessment procedure, a special entry route that takes due account of the practice-trained experience and subsequent career circumstances of such candidates for registration.

In recent weeks, the AAI has updated its own proposals for a special entry route to incorporate the proposed development of a prescribed register admission examination as currently provided for under section 14(2)(f) of the Act. While the Act would allow me to prescribe such a register admission examination as a route to registration for eligible persons, neither I nor my Department have the remit or the competence to validate or approve the proposed register admission examination. That aspect of the matter comes within the responsibility of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) who are designated as the registration body for the purposes of the Act of 2007 and as the competent authority for the purposes of Directive 2005/ 36 /E C (as amended) on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. For this reason I would advise the AAI in the first instance to discuss their latest proposal with the RIAI as registration body/competent authority for the architectural profession in Ireland.

As previously stated, m y Department and the RIAI, as registration body, are committed to continuing to work with the AAI a nd all other stakeholders to achieve whatever further reasonable and practical improvements in registration arrangements can be made.