Regulation of housing quality in Ireland: What can be learned from food safety?

This paper contrasts, and critically evaluates, the Irish regulatory regimes for building control and food safety. It concludes that the systems are similar in design, but vary greatly in implementation, drawing on analysis of enforcement statistics published by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and obtained from building control authorities. It is argued that regulatory systems require enforcement and oversight in order to verify consistency of decisionmaking, compliance with their own rules and standards, and overall effectiveness, and that this lack of emphasis on enforcement and oversight is a significant failing in the Irish building control system.