Construction Contracts Act update

Recent Parliamentary Question re Construction Contracts Act Commencement 162.

Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton when the Construction Contracts Act will be fully implemented and all adjudication plans fully in place so that subcontractors who are now on Government funded jobs and who are having difficulty being paid by the main contractor will be able to use this legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2937/16]

Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Deputy Gerald Nash stated The Government is committed to the earliest possible implementation of the Construction Contracts Act, 2013 and in order to achieve this, approved the delegation of responsibility for its implementation to me as Minister for Business and Employment. I am taking all the necessary steps to bring about implementation of the legislation and significant progress has been made to date. I appointed Dr. Nael G. Bunni as Chairperson of the Construction Contracts Adjudication Panel in July last year. I have also recently appointed thirty members of the Panel of Adjudicators, following a competitive process conducted by the Public Appointments Service.

The next stage in the implementation process is the publication of a Code of Practice governing the conduct of adjudications as required under Section 9 of the Act, which will be binding on all adjudicators operating under the Act. This is at an advanced stage and will be finalised as soon as possible.

Once the Code of Practice has been published, a date for the commencement of the Construction Contracts Act, 2013 will be announced in advance, in order to provide sufficient notice to those affected by the Act's provisions to incorporate the requisite changes into future construction contracts and to allow for a public information campaign.