Sir, – During the boom years, it was routinely estimated that about 40 per cent of the cost of a new house or apartment ended up in government coffers. These included sizeable building levies, charged by the local authority and ultimately paid for by the purchaser of the property. Those levies should have covered the cost of inspecting and approving construction projects, but it appears this effort was deemed to be unnecessary.
So residents of Longboat Quay, like those in Priory Hall, find themselves in a situation where, having already paid the substantial building levy to the local authority, they are now expected to make good the failings of regulation.
This is an intolerable situation and one that needs a coherent policy remedy at national level. God knows how many sub-standard houses and apartments have been built because of lax or non-existent enforcement of building regulations. It’s time the regulators were brought to book! – Yours, etc,
PETER MOLLOY,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Your report "Apartment residents face €4 million bill", September 30th) is shocking.
The builder should be challenged at least on moral if not legal grounds to make good or contribute to making good this disgraceful lack of building standards. Equally there were professionals who signed off this development as being compliant. Will their respective professional bodies investigate their involvement? The answer is no and the hapless owners are left to shoulder the responsibility. We are constantly being betrayed by the professional bodies that represent those responsible for ensuring that building standards are met. Fees, often extreme, are demanded and paid and there appears to be little or no accountability when problems arise. Surely it is time for the Government to act and force these bodies to ensure that their members are held to account. – Yours, etc,
DEREK MacHUGH,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – The only people who will have to face the rigours of the Irish legal system because of the structural failures in the Longboat Quay apartments are the residents. Justice? There is no apparent definition in Irish society. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – I read that the residents of an apartment block in Dublin have to cough up €4 million to fix substandard building work. I know of another Dublin apartment block built in 2003 where a faulty roof now has to be replaced at considerable cost to the owners. It is immoral that builders can walk away from substandard work. – Yours, etc,
MICHIEL DROST,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – In the 1970s I applied for and got planning permission to build a garage and utility room to the side of my perfectly ordinary semi-detached house. I was informed by the local authority that I could not proceed with the building work until the foundations had been inspected. Some years later, as my family had grown, I applied for permission to further extend my house and in this instance three more inspections were required before the building work was completed. This was a very ordinary domestic extension. It baffles me as to how multimillion projects could have been undertaken since then without adequate inspection. – Yours, etc,
LOUIS O’FLAHERTY,
Santry,
Dublin 9.