The Irish Home Builders' Association (IHBA) is expected to review the membership of Zoe Developments Ltd. On Monday, on the prompting of a High Court judge, the company said it would donate £100,000 to charity following serious breaches of the safety laws. Monday's comments by Mr Justice Kelly, in which he described the firm as a "recidivist criminal" for its repeated breaches of safety regulations, are also expected to herald a much tougher approach by the Health and Safety Authority to builders who ignore the law. The HSA development officer, Ms Sylvia Wood, said yesterday: "For the first time a judge has actually said society cares about what is happening in the industry.
"This is a landmark case for us. At last we have a judge who says `If you have a case, bring it.' Previously, court awards were derisory."
When the IHBA holds its next monthly meeting at the beginning of December it is expected to consider whether Zoe Developments should be allowed to retain membership. If Zoe were to lose IHBA membership this would also affect its membership of the Construction Industry Federation. Mr Michael Goggins, the director of the IHBA, rejected a claim by SIPTU's construction secretary, Mr Eric Fleming, that there were "more rotten apples in the barrel than good ones". He said what had happened in court on Monday would shake the complacency of the minority of bad builders.
There had been a marked increase in employers' participation in CIF training programmes. He expected this would now accelerate further. Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins has called for the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act to be amended so that developers can be charged with manslaughter, when employees die working in dangerous and illegal conditions.