Mr. Ciar?n O'Connor:

In parts of the country where the climate is very severe, there may be a reason to have a different finish outside. However, in the city and so on, there is not the same problem. People have a specific view of their buildings and Irish people tend to think that solid blockwork is solid construction and that lightweight stuff is not. People have to learn a little from the problems with timber-frame construction that have arisen in the past. Some 20 or 30 years ago, timber-frame construction made up 25% of the market in England but, almost overnight, that fell to 3% because of a programme. That was because there no timber culture there. As has been said previously, those on the planning side did not have contractors who knew how to do it properly so they were just making a complete mess of it. A broad front made up of all those things is needed to tackle the different issues.