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Government committed to addressing non payment problems in the Construction Industry

Mr Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform today reaffirmed the Programme for Government’s commitment to bring in legislation to protect small building subcontractors that have been denied payments from bigger companies.

Minister Hayes said, “I met with Senator Feargal Quinn whose Construction Contracts Bill was recently passed by the Seanad.  The Senator’s Bill has been a welcome initiative and the Senator and I have decided on a collaborative approach in bringing the matter forward.  We both want a robust piece of legislation that addresses the problem of non payment, and we agree that the solution needs to be balanced so as to avoid imposing regulatory or cost burdens on parties in dispute, the State or others.  In light of this, a Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Bill is now underway in my Department.”

The Minister confirmed that this Regulatory Impact Assessment is also examining a number of issues that the Seanad debate identified as needing further analysis before the Bill would proceed in the Dáil.  He continued, “On the 28th June I will speak directly to the relevant stakeholders as part of a focused consultation to hear their views on the Bill as it now stands. Following these steps, I will then be in a position to present my proposals to the Government about how we should progress this legislation.  I intend that we will have the legislation put before the Dáil early in the next session.”

I want to reaffirm the position of the Government.  This legislation is a priority issue for the Government.  It is our intention that the new law be enacted as quickly as possible