Written Answers. - Building Regulations.
Theresa Ahearn
Ceist:
215
Mrs. T. Ahearn
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the number of local authorities which appointed building control officers to monitor the building regulations effective since June 1999 as they relate to people with disability; the number which have not complied with these regulations; the action, if any, taken in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[8524/00]
Theresa Ahearn
Ceist:
216
Mrs. T. Ahearn
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the plans, if any, he has to introduce compulsory adherence to the Building Regulations, 1992; if so, if these regulations will apply to existing public buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter
[8539/00]
Theresa Ahearn
Ceist:
223
Mrs. T. Ahearn
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the steps, if any, taken by his Department to ensure compliance with the Building Regulations, 1992, as they apply to wheelchair accessibility; the action, if any, local authorities have taken where buildings did not comply with these regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[8525/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 215, 216 and 223 together.
Part M of the building regulations places a duty on persons constructing or extending public buildings on or after 1 June 1992 to provide access for people with disabilities. Compliance with the regulations is primarily a matter for the designers, builders and owners of the buildings involved.
Local authorities are responsible for enforcement of the regulations. It is, therefore, a matter for the authority to inspect public buildings to which the regulations apply. Under the regulations the authorities are empowered to inspect public buildings, issue enforcement notices for non-compliance with the regulations and initiate court proceedings. My Department does not have details of the enforcement notices served by the authorities. However, I have arranged for my Department to broaden the existing statistics compiled on building control to include such details from the current year onwards.
Since my appointment as Minister in 1997 I have been urging local authorities to more actively enforce all parts of the building regulations, including part M. In particular, my Department's circular letter BC 7/99 on 17 June 1999 specifically called for stricter enforcement of part M. I understand that 35 out of 37 authorities have now appointed officers and the balance are in the process of making such appointments. I have also increased building control fees to provide local authorities with additional revenue to fund better enforcement. My Department will issue a further circular on the need for stricter enforcement of the building regulations generally, by the end of this month.
Government Departments and local authorities have been asked by my Department on a number of occasions over the years to ensure that appropriate provision is made for access facilities for disabled people to all buildings under their control, including public buildings constructed prior to the coming into operation of the building regulations on 1 June 1992. I have no proposals to apply part M of the building regulations retrospectively to pre-June 1992 public buildings.
In July 1999 I issued a consultation document on my proposal to require all new dwellings commencing on or after 1 July 2000 to be accessible to disabled visitors. At the same time I indicated that the whole of part M was being thrown open for review and amendment in the current year. I intend to publish the revised part M within the next two months, following consideration of a wide range of comments received in consultation with the building regulations advisory body. When the definitive part M measures are published, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, in co-operation with my Department, will be holding a series of regional seminars throughout the country dealing with the revised technical guidance document M. The operative date for the revised part M is now likely to be 1 January 2001 so as not to disrupt the housing programme in the current year.
In my foreword to the consultation document on part M I summed up my own views on the enforcement of Part M as follows: "I hope that part M, when amended and vigorously enforced, will deliver greatly improved accessibility to all our citizens including people with disabilities, in the new millennium – and not before its time."
