Mr. Ian Talbot:

Before the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, was established, we called for an IDA of the sea, which would be an organisation that could look at the whole development as well as the regulatory element. We got a body that was solely focused on the regulatory side. We all experience great frustration when we see things such as the new apartment guidelines coming in, against which a judicial review has been raised. I am not commenting on the rights or wrongs of any judicial reviews, but this is another one. It will take more time, which freezes investment. People who were considering putting the investment together to invest in apartments will be stopped doing so while the new standards are subject to judicial review. It will be another year or two before they mobilise it.

A point was made about foreign direct investment. Whether it be companies looking to establish or investors looking to invest in projects in Ireland, they are also looking at projects in Manchester, Singapore, the Philippines or wherever else. They will go where they think they are going to get a return quicker. If they are seeing delays in Ireland, they will say they can get back here in due course, but their plans for next year - and it is October now - will be to send investment to Singapore or wherever else.