Mr. Tom Parlon:

I will be brief because Mr. Doheny has covered most of the issues. We also had eloquent presentations from both Mr. Walsh and Ms O'Toole. I was just thinking of an old country and western song by Kris Kristofferson and the line, "You've been readin' my mail."

Mr. Walsh spoke of issues such as financial support, support for innovation and not taking advantage of entrepreneurs, which is our big worry. Mr. Doheny compared construction with agriculture, an area in which the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, and I have a background. I heard Ms Tara McCarthy, the chief executive of Bord Bia, on one of RTÉ's chat shows on Saturday last praising the fact that our food and drink exports are worth in excess of €12.5 billion. As Mr. Doheny stated, we are turning out €20 billion worth of work in construction and employing more than 150,000 people. There is not a Minister for construction or an advisory service such as Teagasc. We are largely left to our own devices. There is no incentive to invest.

I noted a couple of words the Minister of State used in outlining the supports available. There are supports and I do not intend to be negative. The Minister of State mentioned accessibility and some supports being impenetrable and excessively restrictive. By virtue of running their own show, owners of SMEs have less time than others and may not be focused sufficiently on paperwork and red tape. That is the area in which support is needed.

The construction industry must embrace innovation. This is not only an Irish problem, but a global problem. Off-site fabrication is the way to go. Some Irish entrepreneurs in the United States are just about to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in off-site fabrication for houses that would speed up construction. They are in California which has experienced a horrendous fire in which, on top of an existing housing problem, wiped out 25,000 of the state's finest houses. One can imagine where that project will start.

It is timely for both Senator Ó Céidigh and the Seanad that we are embracing this area. Construction is the lifeblood of the economy. The big foreign direct investment, FDI, companies are extremely important to the economy but construction has employed an extra 1,000 workers each month for the past 30 months. If there was a Minister, he or she would be cutting ribbons and making announcements every other day. We never get a look in, however, because this employment is spread across many areas.

I regularly walk in and out of Leinster House where a fine construction job is under way. It is being done by an SME from Templemore, Duggan Brothers. The company is proud to be working here and is getting on with the work. I am sure the innovation it is using is state-of-the-art.

In terms of support, the industry needs better access to finance. The banks have become extremely risk averse. A large foreign multinational company will get money it does not need but companies taking a risk are finding it extremely difficult to access finance.

On house building, Home Building Finance Ireland was announced in the 2018 budget but has still not materialised. I acknowledge there are issues. We are informed the legislation may be before the House before Christmas.

Small construction companies need access to money without having to give their life away. They need it at a competitive rate and then they will go out and build. I appreciate the opportunity to come here and I am keen to be involved in the question and answer session.