The Green Party has called on the Government to put in place a regulator following Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's first Dáil defeat on the Greens' motion on building standards and regulation.

Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin TD said: "The message from the Dáil is clear – the Government must end their hands-off approach to building regulation. They must put in place a strong, independent regulator – an Irish Building Authority, and abandon plans to allow the construction sector to continue regulating themselves. They must develop remediation mechanisms for homeowners who have been left to pick up the pieces of substandard building practices, while cowboy developers get off scot-free.

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"It is incredibly disappointing that Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance would oppose remediation measures for tens of thousands of homeowners who have been failed by inadequate regulation in the past.

"The overriding priority underpinning all construction must be the safety of residents. There is no doubt about it – under the current rules and regulations, we could easily have a blaze like Grenfell Tower in Ireland. We have already seen examples of inadequate fire safety in the likes of Priory Hall and Longboat Quay. Just yesterday, over 20 residents were evacuated from their homes in Mountjoy Square. It's finally time for the Government to get tough.:

"The Government has a strong mandate now to tackle shoddy developers and cowboy builders. They must not ignore it. They must not put appeasement of the construction industry above the safety of our citizens."