Housing officials to face grilling over regulation ‘emergency’
Department staff to face questions from Public Accounts Committee after building watchdog claimed it had been ‘understaffed since its inception’
The Department of Housing is to face questions from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after the state’s building watchdog warned Ireland faces a “national emergency” over construction regulation.
Brian Stanley, PAC chair, said that he was very concerned after the Business Post last week revealed that the National Building Control and Market Surveillance Office (NBCO) had raised repeated concerns about its lack of staff over the last four years.
Documents released to this newspaper last week showed that Mairéad Phelan, the head of the NBCO, had privately told bosses that her office has been “understaffed since its inception” and said its lack of resources has created a situation that “is not sustainable”.
