Mr. Dominic Doheny:

Within our organisation we have done a poll on people's experience with the strategic housing unit. As Deputy Breathnach said, it is for housing schemes in excess of 100 units. The feedback we are getting is that it is working very well once it gets to the board. However, that is not when the process commences. The process commences with the informal meetings that one has to schedule with the local authority, etc. That is where the delay is. We were recently before the board, and we voiced our concern about delays that our members are experiencing in scheduling those meetings and the prolonged engagement, or lack of engagement, we have with the local authority before the issue reaches the board. The board members took account of our concerns and said that they would look into them. That is an area of great concern for us.

I will refer to procurement, which Mr. Parlon will also address. That dovetails into the Deputy's last question on the unavailability of manpower, etc., in the regions. I also chair the regional committee of the Construction Industry Federation. Procurement is extremely hot. The lack of any sort of common procurement policy across all agencies is causing major concerns. Let us take for example the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills, the local authority or Irish Water. While we have a national procurement organisation, its policy is not adopted by all. That is a major concern. There are different rules in every county. There is no commonality between them, and therefore our members are losing out hugely. I am sure that Deputies experience that on the ground.

Local contractors are the backbone of a lot of local communities. If we start losing the small and medium-sized local contractors a cohort within the community will be lost. If people can be employed locally it is a reason for them to stay at home. If procurement is not addressed, there is a risk of losing that cohort within our industry, which is a major concern.