Hogan rules need to get more teeth - Celtic Tiger buildings review

THE Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin yesterday proposed that local authorities should carry out a “full audit” of apartments and other buildings built during our Celtic Tiger excitements.

This seems appropriate but even the bravest of the brave would pause before opening that Pandora’s Box especially as the suggestion seems to include a review of public infrastructure projects like, say, the Cork main drainage scheme or any of the splendid local authority headquarters built at the time.

What if, and that “if” is probably just a clutching-at-straws hope, another Longboat Quay or Priory Hall were uncovered? Will residents be forced from their homes because of fire or other risks and face the prospect of destitution or finding tens of thousands of euro to make a building they already paid for in good faith fit for purpose? Mortgage providers will expect to be repaid no matter what is uncovered.