Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the return to work. I live in a town that produces a lot of cement. We have a cement factory in the town and we are delighted that business is beginning again and that people are getting back to work. Seeing more lorries and people involved in construction on the road down here and back is very welcome. I accept and acknowledge that this will only work properly if the unions, workers and employers can work together and reach sensible consensus on issues. Where the HSA has to get involved, it will have to have a defining role with regard to safety, which must be paramount.

The State has provided many subsidies to get businesses going again, in addition to wage and income supports. While I accept that costs are increasing, the headline run by one of our national papers - and I appreciate the Mr. Parlon did not say this - that there could be a 40% increase in the cost of the national children's hospital is an appalling vista. It is entirely unacceptable, particularly to the taxpayer. I am very unhappy with that.

I accept that costs are increasing but I am not happy about the implications for our construction industry and for people who need housing, including social housing. Mr. Parlon will obviously want to give his arguments but I believe it is wrong that the first point of departure today is that everything is going up. I am particularly concerned for young people. I know many young couples who want to buy their own houses. They were expecting a stabilisation, if not a fall, in house prices. It is not good enough that they would face a 15% to 20% increase.

What alternatives are there? Deputy Burke spoke about a different type of construction and different ways of doing things. Why do people always have to pay more and why do they have to pay more to the builder? Why does the taxpayer have to pay more for all of these hospitals and other construction projects? It is a mantra that we must challenge.