Mr. Eddie Taaffe:

Modern methods of construction are used a lot more in housing than people realise. For example, 2D timber-frame panelling is a modern method of construction and it is widely used in the private sector. What we need to gear up to is the 3D MMC. This effectively implies boxes, for want of a better term. There are three companies in Ireland certified to use such systems. We need to specify in our procurement that only providers of 3D modern methods of construction can apply to tender for the job. We are doing this as a pilot in Wexford. We need to ensure the designs we are preparing for the houses are readily usable by or accessible to the suppliers and manufacturers. There is no point in designing a house for which they cannot provide the system. Therefore, collaboration is required. We are using the pilot to learn how the process works. We need to tailor our designs to the systems that exist and incentivise the relevant companies to tender, outlining that we are not accepting tenders for traditional construction. Ultimately, because there is a limited amount of 3D MMC, it is not that much cheaper at the moment. The scale is not sufficient, so we need to ring-fence projects for the MMC industry so it can compete.