Mr. Tom Parlon:

If it is being suggested in the House that workers can only stay together for a maximum of two hours on a major complex that will involve millions of work hours, the project will extend over years, which will have cost implications. It is going to be a challenge. There is no question about it. Under the rules laid out under the protocol, finishing off complex sites such as the children's hospital, data centres or the new pharmaceutical plants will be a major challenge. A two-year programme could well end up being a four or five-year programme, which is bound to have cost implications. I do not suggest for a minute that it is a good idea, but it is the factual situation at the moment. We all appreciate that if house prices come under pressure, the potential buyers of those houses will have fewer resources and less chance of getting a house. That is something with which we will have to deal. While the industry has to work to the letter of the law in meeting the protocol, we will have to find innovative ways of doing so more cheaply. It is to be hoped that some of the restrictions under the protocol can be loosened over time as we make progress with the pandemic.