Senator wants mandatory building inspections

THE Government has been urged to introduce a mandatory inspection regime for new construction amid concerns that tens of thousands of newly built homes exhibit appalling building standards.

The Priory Hall development in Dublin is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to shoddy and unsafe homes built over the past 10 years, according to Labour Senator John Whelan.

“Unscrupulous Celtic Tiger construction cowboys have left the country littered with houses which are unsafe and unsound,” he said yesterday.