Minister's announcement on regulation welcomed

Engineers Ireland has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that a statutory licensing and regulatory system is to be considered for the profession.

The Minister, Mr Gormley, told the Engineers Ireland Annual Conference in Cork that the possibility of having the title of Chartered Engineer legally registered would be a complex undertaking, that he had asked his officials to examine it in detail immediately and that he looked forward to working with Engineers Ireland on this issue.

"Strong regulation provides a level playing field and certainty to individuals and organisations involved," Mr Gormley told the Conference in Cork on Friday 23rd April.

"I also think we need to regulate 'smarter'. A few years ago we were being lectured by some businesspeople and bankers that smart regulation was light touch regulation. I couldn't disagree more.”

John Power welcomed the Minister's announcement.  "Today is a landmark in the campaign to ensure there is protection for the public," Mr Power said.  "At the minute the engineering profession is out of step with the roles of doctors, pharmacists, architects, vets, dentists and nurses who are all statutorily regulated.  Engineers in the main have been highly professional and as a professional body, we work to protect consumers, promote standards, quality, safety and continuing professional development.

"But the profession is not subject to the same statutory rigours as other professionals which is an anomaly.  It is timely now for this legislative issue to be addressed.  It would be wrong to wait until there is some major incident in the construction sector, in the environmental area, at a power station or in a chemical plant for the anomaly to be rectified," Mr Power said.

"Engineers Ireland believes that only chartered engineers within a regulated environment should have the authority to sign off on any projects that have a public health and safety dimension.  Such a regime will act in the public interest and will ensure a strict adherence to high standards and quality."

Yesterday, the President of Engineers Ireland, Dr Chris Horn, said that Irish society is reeling from arrogant incompetence but now must focus on more effective regulation to rebuild towards a just and prosperous future.  He was speaking on the first day of the Engineers Ireland Conference 2010 in Cork.

In his opening address to conference delegates at the Silver Springs Hotel, Co. Cork, Dr Horn, founder of Iona Technologies, said Ireland needed better processes across every facet of our society to restore public confidence and boost economic recovery.  "As a result of the failures in our society and in our systems, especially with regards to regulation, much of the public is disillusioned and frankly apprehensive about the future.” 

The Engineers Ireland Annual Conference 2010 also featured contributions from Peter Clinch, Special Advisor to the Government, James Ives, OpenHydro, John Mullins, Bord Gais, Regina Moran, Fujitsu and Roger Whatmore, Tyndall University.  The second day of the conference was opened by Minister John Gormley TD, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.  The discussion sessions today focused on leadership and innovation in practise, hosted by the Engineers Ireland Cork Region.  Issues associated with Ireland's water management, including waste water and water charges were the focus of another session today.  The third parallel session was dedicated to matters relating to securing Ireland's energy future.