They are, but I will get two minutes to respond.

One two-minute slot will be plenty on this one.

The Minister of State was not privy to the lengthy discussion on related amendments on Committee Stage. From my reading of it, there is nothing currently in the legislation that would ensure that somebody who had been found to be in breach of building regulations could for that reason be struck off the register. That is one of the fundamental weaknesses of it. In addition to the criteria outlined by the Minister of State, insisting that to be on the register somebody would have to have a track record of adhering to…

I move amendment No. 11: In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(f) adherence to the requirements of the Building Regulations;".

I move amendment No. 12: In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(f) accessing the National Training Fund for upskilling construction sector workforce;".

I move amendment No. 13: In page 19, line 31, to delete "such members of its staff as it thinks fit to be" and substitute "independent". Again, we discussed this amendment at length on Committee Stage. I do not want to repeat that debate, but for the benefit of the record the Minister of State might read his response. I may respond depending on his comments.

The concern in terms of this amendment relates to the original discussion we had about the independence of the body. If I understand this section of the Bill, it means that the people who carry out the inspections will be people who were previously employed by the Construction Industry Federation. Therefore, they will be seconded to the register for the purposes of doing this work. How then can we ensure their independence, even if there is a statutory legal requirement? Would it not be better if those staff were i…

I move amendment No. 14: In page 20, to delete lines 18 to 23 and substitute the following: "(3) The chairperson of the Board shall be appointed through the Public Appointments Service and shall have knowledge and experience of construction, building control, building standards, planning and related legislation; and other areas that the Minister may specify by way of regulations.". Again, I do not want to repeat a debate we had on Committee Stage. While the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, did not accept earl…

In his discussions with officials I ask that the Minister of State to go two steps further. The first is that in addition to some of the new nominating bodies he has mentioned, we seek to also have the following included: National Building Control Office - it makes no sense for that office not to be on the board; the Construction Defects Alliance; the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland; and the Irish Planning Institute. If these nominees were there instead of those from the registration body, which is the CIF, …

I move amendment No. 15: In page 20, line 24, to delete “ordinary” and substitute “ten”.

I move amendment No. 16: In page 20, line 24, to delete “by the Minister” and substitute “through the Public Appointments Service,”.

I move amendment No. 17: In page 20, lines 24 to 35, to delete all words from and including “as follows” in line 24 down to and including line 35, and in page 21, to delete lines 1 to 3 and substitute the following: “with one member selected from the nominations of each the following bodies: (a) the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; (b) the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (c) the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; (d) the Department of En…

I move amendment No. 20: In page 22, to delete lines 6 to 12 and substitute the following: “(3) The chairperson of the appeals committee shall be appointed through the Public Appointments Service and shall have knowledge and experience of construction, building control, building standards, planning and related legislation; and other areas that the Minister may specify by way of regulations.”.

I move amendment No. 21: In page 22, to delete line 23 and substitute the following: “(7) The ordinary members of the appeals committee shall be appointed through the Public Appointments Service.”.

I move amendment No. 23: In page 23, to delete lines 24 to 28 and substitute the following: “(12) All appeals shall be considered in public.”.

I move amendment No. 27: In page 37, line 27, to delete “90 days” and substitute “20 days”.

I move amendment No. 28: In page 40, line 38, to delete “90 days” and substitute “20 days”.

I move amendment No. 29: In page 42, line 36, after “Board” to insert “, in partnership with SOLAS and the National Training Fund,”.

I move amendment No. 30: In page 45, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “(i) failure to comply with building control regulations.”. This is among the most important set of amendments that my colleagues and I have tabled. We are creating a register, which is a good thing. That register is a register of competence. There will be a set of criteria against which somebody can become a member of that register. If at some stage a complaint is made against a person for failure to comply with the terms of the…

The developer of Priory Hall has never been convicted, but we all know that he was responsible for one of the worst examples of building control breaches, so much so that the gross cost to the State is €70 million and the net cost to the State for that one development alone is €20 million. However, on the basis of what the Minister of State said, that individual can return to the State - he is currently practising in the building trade in Belfast - and register and if he can provide proof that he adheres to the oth…