Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will clarify the figures I gave. They did not include demolition of the property. The figure does not add up to 1,900-odd square feet. Demolition costs bring us back to approximately 1,730 sq. ft. There is also the builder's finish, which does not include all of the furnishings the homeowner takes out of the house and has to put back in. In an average house, that cost is €10,000 for bathrooms and €15,000 for a kitchen. That is another €40,000 the homeowner has to come up with to refurnish the house. Will homeowners take down the tiles in existing bathrooms and put them back up again? They will not. The figures being cited in the square footage are for a builder's finish.

This means there is no paint, no carpets and nothing on the walls. The figures being quoted do not include the demolition that must be done in the properties. To go back to my earlier point, 99% of the engineers I know would never build on existing foundations-----