Crackdown on rogue builders proposed in new Bill that would legally stop them getting planning permission
Crackdown against rogue builders has been proposed in a new Bill that would legally stop them getting planning permission.
The proposed legislation means that any time a cowboy builder applies for planning, their previous shoddy work would be red-flagged to warn against granting them permission.
It would need an amendment to the Planning and Development Act and this is being put forward by Sinn Fein’s housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin TD.
He said: “It is a short and straightforward Bill which aims to stop rogue builders and developers getting planning permission where they have a history of defective building.
“This change to planning law is necessary so local councils and An Bord Pleanala have the power to say no to new planning applications where the developer or builder has a history of bad building practices.
“We have seen how negligence or failure to build to an adequate standard has affected thousands of homeowners across the State.”
Deputy O Broin believes that the Bill is needed because of defective building scandals such as Dublin fire hazard complex Priory Hall, which emerged around 2010 and cost the State an initial €52m to fix, and the current controversy of mica-affected blocks in counties like Donegal and Mayo, which the Government is proposing to fix with a €2.2bn redress scheme.
He said: “From Priory Hall, the Leinster pyrite defects, the pyrite and mica defective block scandal, fire safety and other structural defects in apartments and duplexes and dodgy home extensions, homeowners have been left questioning how these homes were allowed to be built in the first place.
“This Bill is a small but important measure to put a stop to rogue builders with a record of bad building by enabling local councils and An Bord Pleanala to say no.”
Meanwhile, new estimates have shown that the country’s construction sector is set to grow by more than 18% this year from €27bn to €32bn – just €6bn less than levels recorded at the height of the Celtic Tiger boom.
The figure was published yesterday by infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, which stated as part of its annual construction industry review that the “value output [is] approaching Celtic Tiger levels”. An AECOM spokesperson said: “Construction output forecast to grow to €32bn in 2022, fast approaching the heights of the Celtic Tiger era of €38bn.
“AECOM is predicting that the 2022 housing output will exceed the Government’s own forecast.
Source Irish Mirror
