Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The individual banks might want to give feedback on this final point. A recent ESRI paper has questioned or pointed up a serious risk in regard to the requirement we have, as a State, in terms of the capacity of the construction sector to access credit. It did a detailed assessment looking at historic trends, how it has been funded through deposits and so on. It calls into question whether the capacity is there to ramp up in order to provide the lending that is needed in regard to construction for houses. The interest rate environment obviously has an impact on that. It is also about the social funding and how this was funded in the past. During the Celtic tiger period it was very much from international deposits and the changed regulatory environment. Within the individual banks, what are we seeing?

Some will tell us construction is starting to slow down in the second half of the year, while others will say different types of construction are orienting to different parts. What do the representatives envisage on the basis of where we are at currently and where is the capacity to meet the needs? Obviously, a significant increase in house building is required over the coming years.