Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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222. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when a statutory instrument or office to enforce the Construction Contracts Act 2013 will be forthcoming; the work already carried out; his plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6238/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Government approved the delegation of responsibility for implementation of the Construction Contracts Act, 2013 to me as Minister for Business and Employment. I am taking all the necessary steps to bring about implementation of the legislation and significant progress has been made to date. I appointed Dr. Nael G. Bunni as Chairperson of the Construction Contracts Adjudication Panel in July last year. I also appointed thirty members of the Panel of Adjudicators in December, following a competitive process conducted by the Public Appointments Service.

In February, I circulated a comprehensive Code of Practice for the conduct of adjudications to the relevant stakeholder organisations. A significant number of observations were received by my Department on the Code and we are now at an advanced stage of considering these. My Department expects to finalise the Code of Practice as soon as possible and will then publish it.

Once the Code of Practice has been published, a date for the commencement of the Construction Contracts Act, 2013 will be announced in advance, in order to provide sufficient notice to those affected by the Act's provisions to incorporate the requisite changes into future construction contracts and to allow for a public information campaign.