Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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277. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the Construction Industry Register Ireland regulations; when the regulations will be formally notified to the European Commission; to provide specific details on what notification procedure or process through which these regulations will be notified; any associated steps involved in the notification process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22812/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The main objective of the is to develop and promote a culture of competence, good practice and compliance with the Building Regulations in the construction sector which will benefit consumers and the general public.

CIRI will operate in a similar way to statutory registration schemes for other professions. An Admissions and Registration Board was appointed in September 2023 and an Appeals Committee will be established in the coming months.

The main function of the Admissions and Registration Board will be to assess the competence of any entity who wishes to register using criteria which will be set out for each division or sub-division of the register. These criteria will be relevant experience, relevant qualifications or a combination of both. Entities applying to join the register must demonstrate competence in the particular division or divisions for which they are applying. Many builders have gained their competence through experience, and this experience can be used to demonstrate their competence.

The requirement to register will apply to builders of both residential and non-residential buildings that are subject to the Building Regulations. Employees of such building firms will not be required to register but sole traders will.

Certain sections of the Act of 2022 are due to commence in the coming months. This includes Section 64 of the Act which designates the registration body as the as competent authority in Ireland for providers of building works under the

Following this the registration requirements shall be made available online through the points of single contact as required under Article 57 of the and Article 6 of the .

The Admissions and Registration Board are currently preparing recommendations to the Minister under Sections 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the Act of 2022 regarding the division of the Register into separate divisions of providers of building works and the competence criteria that will be required under each division.

When these recommendations are approved the Minister will make regulations to allow the commencement of registration for the initial divisions. It is expected that these will be in place in Q3 this year. The first categories who will be required to register will likely be builders of housing schemes and apartments. Registration for various trades will happen subsequently.