Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion

Mr. Kevin James:

Climate action is an opportunity for change and the industry must get on board and move quickly. If we consider the legacy of what has happened in the last few years in timber-frame construction, we do not have enough licences to plant trees to provide timber for timber-frame construction. The felling licences are not appropriate to deal with the future demand for timber-frame construction. Low-carbon initiatives and carbon-neutral developments are very much on the radar. We need to understand what is cost neutral and what we can implement in a house or an apartment complex in a cost-neutral way. I think that premiums will apply to designing and constructing apartment complexes or housing developments that will embrace new technologies and designs. If the materials are not available and the specification is not there, the likelihood is that they could come at a premium if we are not careful.

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