Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Every modern economy has a functioning and dynamic structural and development sector. It is about 5% and 6% of GDP now whereas it should be 9% or 10%, and it was more than 20%, which was unsustainable. It seems that as the property market in Dublin, in particular, begins to sort itself out and there is some demand for houses again, construction is also beginning in Dublin. In the greater Castleknock area, for example, I understand three sites have opened up in the past six weeks or so, and there is the big site in Dun Laoghaire which is being finished out by the Cosgrave company, and there might be another phase to it. I also understand a big site has been opened in Clontarf for house building.

NAMA is helping as well. It is providing funds to developers and providing vendor funds, which are beginning to come on stream. It is very slow down the country so we will be depending on funds from the European Investment Bank for the bundles of schools and health centres to give a bit of construction activity in rural Ireland. The normal sequence is that what begins in Dublin moves into the rest of the economy. For the first time in a number of years, there is some activity in the construction industry in the capital city.