Mr. Tom Parlon:

All developments that I know of that are under construction are being finished. This is a good thing because when we had the crash sites were left unfinished which was horrific. Unfortunately, some of them are still there. Most, if not all, of the developments that are under construction are being carried out. I appreciate the point made about someone putting on an extension for a family member or whatever. They did their prices 12 months ago, went to the bank and got a mortgage for, say, €300,000. Now when they get a quantity surveyor to come in and revalue it, it is costing €380,000 or €390,000. That is scaring people and, as we heard from the SCSI, there is no guarantee that concrete prices will not go up again. The minute cement goes up in price, concrete and blocks go up in price as well.

I had a chat with Ms Hone before I came in and I empathise with the people in Donegal and their difficulties and the horrific situation they find themselves in. However, it is not that builders are mean. If there is a 10% price increase for concrete, as happened in September, that has to be passed on immediately. It is passed on to our payers. The unfortunate part is that if you are doing a public works contract, you do not have that facility to add that on. It is a crying shame that there is no flexibility in the public works' contracts.