Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman might let me finish on this point. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland stated:

Contrary to the need to drive down construction costs, the concrete levy announced in Budget 2023 directly increases building costs. While we understand that Government intends to seek a contribution from relevant stakeholders to the cost of remediating defective homes, in a period of hyperinflation for the construction industry, the introduction of a levy on concrete [blocks and concrete pouring] will undoubtedly challenge the viability and affordability of ... new homes.

In my view, the way it is designed and the detail of it should not be included in the Finance Bill at this time for many of the reasons I outlined regarding how it is applied, who it is applied to, the point of hyperinflation, the point about viability of construction products, what we are seeing in terms of commencements and the massive disaster we have in terms of the housing crisis. I strongly believe this section should be deleted from the Bill.