Opposition politicians have claimed that Government regulations on energy ratings for new homes will mean that the developers will avoid having to pay for such ratings at the expense of those who buy the homes.
The new rating system, designed to inform house buyers how energy efficient homes are, came into effect on January 1st for all newly-built homes that are put up for sale.
However The Irish Times reported yesterday the Department of the Environment introduced an exemption in the rule for all new homes that come on to the market but which had planning permission on or before December 31st, 2006.
It means most new housing developments that come onto the market in the next two years will not be required to have a rating.
The new ratings, which will be carried out by independent assessors, will come into force for all houses, new and second hand, which come onto the market from January 1st, 2009.
Yesterday Labour environment spokesman Eamon Gilmore said the delay for new homes meant developers were able to avoid having to have ratings carried out on the houses, leaving it to the homebuyer to do so at some stage in the future.
"This is an inexplicable concession to property developers at the expense of the homebuyer," Mr Gilmore said.
"The Government has known for the past five years that the labelling system would have to be introduced. They delayed its introduction and indeed got a three-year deferral until January 2009.
"Now they are belatedly implementing the measure, but in a way which imposes no burden on developers, and all the burden on homeowners."
He said if the Government had been serious about its Kyoto commitments on carbon emissions, the directive "could have been implemented years ago".
Green Party environment spokesman Ciarán Cuffe also wrote to Minister for the Environment Dick Roche yesterday, seeking an explanation as to why the planning permission cut-off for new homes was extended further in recent weeks from July to December 31st, 2006.
"The implementation of the Building Performance Directive has been five years in the making, and yet we now find that there aren't enough inspectors to do the work and implementation has been delayed," he said. "This is a clear example of Fianna Fáil ineptitude leading to consumers losing out."
Yesterday a Department of the Environment spokesman rejected as false suggestions the delay in implementation had been caused by lobbying by the construction industry.
"That is total and utter rubbish," he said, and attributed the changes to allowing an adequate lead-in time for sufficient inspectors and assessors to implement the ratings system.
David Taylor, chief executive of Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) which will oversee the inspection system, confirmed that the latest delay had been to allow adequate time for the new rating system to be up and running.
He said that people were currently undergoing training to work as inspectors.