Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2010
303 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will ensure that all damaged houses in the North Fringe, Dublin 13 are urgently remediated and fully repaired; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47728/10]
View answer304 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will establish an SDZ for the North Fringe, Dublin 13 to address all outstanding issues in the North Fringe and to ensure that all damaged homes in the district are fully remediated and restored; all estates and apartment complexes in the North Fringe are fully completed and that all critical health, education, transport and commercial services for the new local residents are put in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47729/10]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 303 and 304 together.
The North Fringe Framework Development Plan, which was prepared by Dublin City Council in 2000, sets out the objectives for the area, the site context and the urban design framework. I understand that planning permissions in the North Fringe have been granted in line with the Framework Plan.
Specific responsibility for the planning and delivery of the North Fringe development rests with the local authorities involved — Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council. A North Fringe Cross-Authority Forum was established in 2004 to monitor progress in the implementation of the North Fringe Framework Development. Membership includes senior officials from the two Councils, representatives of local residents' groups and from statutory bodies such as the HSE, the Department of Education and Science, An Garda Síochána, and public transport providers.
One of the main benefits of designation of an area as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) is the co-ordinated planning and development of undeveloped sites on the basis of a planning scheme made by the local authority, with a good degree of certainty on the exact type and nature of development that will take place. I do not believe that an SDZ would be the appropriate vehicle to deliver on existing developments such as the Dublin North Fringe area where there is a formally adopted Framework Plan already in place which has guided considerable development over the last number of years and continues to be the basis against which planning permissions and ancillary development are considered.
Insofar as damage to individual homes is concerned, compliance with the Building Regulations is the responsibility of the owner or builder of a building, and enforcement of the Regulations is the responsibility of the 37 local building control authorities who are empowered to carry out inspections and initiate enforcement proceedings, where considered necessary. The resolution of problems arising between building owners and builders is a matter for the parties concerned, namely the building owner, the relevant developer and the builder's insurers. Where the construction of a building is the subject of a contract between the client and the builder, enforcement is a civil matter.
