Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. The increase in employment was mentioned. That there are more construction jobs is welcome. I am a Deputy from the west, which was particularly badly hit in employment terms. Many people either retrained or emigrated. Are there enough suitably qualified persons to take up the new roles? Have they returned or are new people joining the construction sector? There was a drop-off in the number of people attending college to study construction or related degrees.

I was struck by Mr. Doheny's remark that there was a clear threat to Ireland's social and economic progress. That strong statement will resonate with us in our work. In terms of investment in infrastructure, apart from lobbying at EU level to relax the fiscal rules, has Mr. Doheny any other advice for the committee on how we might tackle those rules? As he can imagine, we have discussed this difficulty at length. It is not lost on us that we could do with the rules' relaxation and access to more funds.

It was also mentioned that tender pricing was low and competitive. Do the witnesses foresee an increase in tender pricing? If so, will it be in the short term or otherwise? We should be aware of that as regards value for money for the State in infrastructural projects.

I was struck by something as I went through the slides. Am I correct in saying that the CIF is advocating that we postpone the establishment of a rainy day fund? I would appreciate a discussion on or explanation of that. Given where we have come from in recent years, Fianna Fáil is a strong advocate for the establishment of such a fund. In the context of Brexit and the volatile economic world in which we now operate, is the CIF's position a wise one to be adopting?