I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The regulation of the electrical contracting sector in Ireland has been the cause of considerable controversy for some years. Concerns over poor standards and the possibility of increased injury or damage to property caused by shoddy workmanship led to a voluntary initiative between the then Department of Energy, the Electricity Supply Board and the electrical contracting associations in the early 1990s. That resulted in the establishment of the Register of Electricity Contractors of Ireland, RECI, which carries out a regulatory function for its members. A second body, the Electrical Contractors' Safety and Standards Association, ECSSA, was established subsequently and also aims to regulate safety standards among such contractors.
The use of safe electricity is a major issue in public safety. Between 1988 and 1999, 76 people were killed in Ireland as a result of accidents attributed to electricity. In 1998, nearly 5% of all fires were attributed to electrical causes – over 1,261 fires in Irish homes and businesses. Fires attributed to electrical causes were responsible for nearly 18% of deaths caused fires that year. Although not all those fires and fatalities can be solely attributed to the standard of work that contractors carry out, it is nonetheless alarming that the incidence of accidents is so high. There is no doubt that better regulation of the work of electrical contractors would have a positive impact and reduce the risk of death, damage or injury.
The Government approach to the issue has been to pass the buck, shifting the regulation of electrical contractors from one Department to another – the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister for Public Enterprise and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment have all in the past absolved themselves of responsibility for the issue. The Health and Safety Authority has also claimed that it has no responsibility for the regulation of electrical contractors.
The major impetus for change in the area has come from the Interdepartmental Review Group on Public Safety, whose report was published in July 2000. In the foreword, the group's chairman stressed the urgent need to address concerns about the regulation of electrical contractors. There is no doubt that, since the establishment of RECI and ECSSA, there has been an improvement in standards of safety and competence in the electrical contracting sector.
The fact that electricity is such a potentially hazardous and widely used source of energy makes it vitally important to ensure that members of the public are not put at risk through everyday use. Substandard installations in homes have led to fires and electrocutions and resulted in substantial loss of life in recent years. There is widespread acceptance that the scheme established by the formation of RECI, whose members I welcome to the Gallery, has contributed positively to improving standards and protecting the public.
There have been some shortcomings with the current system, and RECI and others have been endeavouring to raise those issues in recent years. In particular, there are concerns that the current system of regulation and supervision is voluntary and does not place enough of an onus on contractors or electricians to maintain high standards of public safety, adequate insurance and proper training. There is also a difficulty in enforcing the safety standards when electrical contractors or electricians registered with one regulatory body leave it and go to another such body before a disciplinary process against them has been concluded. That undermines the very essence of a regulatory regime for the electrical contracting sector. The Bill addresses that issue.
There are also difficulties with the inspection of contractors' work and situations where the owners of premises are not prepared to allow the regulatory organisations to carry out inspections. The Bill also addresses that. There is at present a ludicrous situation with different standards of safety applied for people in the home and in the workplace. The Bill addresses that issue too. Domestic customers currently have no statutory or regulatory protection against shoddy work, while those in the workplace have some protection from the Health and Safety Authority, as the Minister of State will know. There is therefore a need to equalise and regularise the regime.
Some misgivings have also been expressed about consistency in the operation of the regulatory organisations. As I said, in July 2000, the Interdepartmental Review Group on Public Safety published a report dealing with all aspects of its remit. In the foreword, the chairman, Professor Danny O'Hare, highlighted the fact that issues affecting the regulation of the electrical contracting sector raised serious questions about public safety that needed to be urgently addressed. The Department of Public Enterprise led an initiative to involve the Commission for Electricity Regulation in dealing with issues of public safety affecting the electrical contracting sector. That process has not yet reached a conclusion, but the Commissioner for Electricity Regulation has held discussions with interested parties about issues of concern.
There has been absolutely no indication from the Government as to when measures will be taken to address the shortcomings and concerns identified regarding public safety and the electrical contracting sector. There has been some suggestion that the matter may be addressed in the context of the forthcoming legislation to reform the Electricity Supply Board. A timescale of several years has been suggested by sources close to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
To address this issue, a Private Members' Bill has been prepared and brought by me before the House to deal with the concerns I have mentioned. It is based on correcting the shortcomings with the current system on a basis that would utilise existing skills, agencies and competencies and which would not place an additional drain on the Exchequer.
The Bill seeks to amend the Electricity Regulation Act by conferring additional responsibility on the Commission for Electricity Regulation to have a general overall supervisory function. The commission would exercise its supervisory functions by ensuring bodies such as the Register of Electrical Contractors of Ireland, the Electrical Contractors Safety and Standards Association or any regulatory body recognised as having competence in this area would operate to certain consistent standards.
The Bill would also oblige all electrical contractors and electricians to register with such bodies which, for the purpose of the Bill, are known as the electrical contracting supervisory bodies. The scheme envisaged under the Bill would make best use of existing resources and expertise and do a considerable amount to remedy the existing shortcomings within the system of regulation.
The Bill has a number of key features which I will itemise. The Commission for Electricity Regulation, known as the commission, would be given the power to ensure the electrical contracting industry operated to the highest possible standard of public safety. All electricians, electrical contractors or employers engaging electricians for the purposes of carrying out electrical work in factories or plant would be obliged to register on an annual basis with an electrical contracting supervisory body. The Bill would provide that no person could be a member of more than one such body. This would correct a shortcoming with the current system of regulation where contractors have adopted what might be described as an à la carte approach or attitude to supervision and regulation. As there have been some concerns that any attempt to address this could fall foul of the Competition Act, the legislation seeks to address that matter head on. The measure would make good sense and stand up to scrutiny under the Competition Act.
The legislation also seeks to impose criminal sanction where a person engages in electrical contracting work while not registered with one of the contracting supervisory bodies. It would also address an additional shortcoming with the current system. The supervisory bodies have been unable to enter premises to inspect work carried out by electricians or electrical contractors in circumstances where the owner of the premises has refused admission. In such circumstances, it is impossible for the contracting bodies to determine if the electrical installation has been completed to a satisfactory standard or if there is some deficiency from a safety perspective. Under this legislation, the Commission for Electricity Regulation could appoint an authorised officer to carry out an inspection, and where it was carried out in a house and the home owner refused admission, there would be a provision facilitating a court order to permit such an inspection.
The legislation also contains a provision that would prohibit the Electricity Supply Board from permitting the connecting to its network of any premises unless the applicant could supply proof that the electrical installations and repair work at the premises had been carried out by a registered contractor, electrician or employer. The Bill also contains a provision that would allow the Commission for Electricity Regulation to direct the board to disconnect supply in certain limited circumstances.
The electrical contracting supervisory bodies should be licensed by the Commission for Electricity Regulation and have their functions as set out in section 8 of the Bill. In general terms, they should be solely concerned with the supervision of members and aim to maintain and improve the standards in the provision by them of such services for consumers. These supervisory bodies should not have any trade or commercial objective but be solely concerned with regulation and the interests of public safety.
The Commission for Electricity Regulation would have a central role in the regulation of electrical contracting in Ireland under the proposed legislation and set out the technical codes of practice to which electricians, electrical contractors and registered employers would have to adhere in the performance of their functions. In most cases the commission would merely endorse or employ industry accepted standards and rules.
The Commission for Electricity Regulation would also set out the rules that would apply for connection to the Electricity Supply Board network. It would also dictate the rules and regulations that would apply to the recognition, licensing operation and control of electrical contracting supervisory bodies. This is to address a perceived shortcoming with the existing system of regulation where there are no common rules for the operation, control, management or direction of electrical contracting supervisory bodies.
There is no sustainable or convincing reason the Government should not accept the Bill. The structure and solution proposed are not controversial. There is widespread support from all the organisations associated with electricity safety, and the measures proposed in the Bill would utilise existing structures and resources without placing the burden of a single additional cent of funding on the Exchequer. The most compelling reason for accepting the Bill is that it would save lives. The sooner the Government accepts this, the more lives that will be saved. What more compelling reason could there be for accepting the legislation?