Mr. Eddie Taaffe:

There are three things local authorities are seeing on the ground. Over the past six months or so we have seen a reduction in the number submitting tenders for public works contracts. That is because the private construction sector sees them as slightly more risky because of the price variation issues, so there is an overall reduction in the level of interest. The second thing we are seeing - this pertains more to rural authorities - is that the smaller builders, who have had a very good relationship over the years with their local authorities and who build eight, ten or 12 houses, are the contractors who seem to be less capable of or who have less scope for absorbing the material price increases. They may well be the ones who will suffer the most from this, which would be a pity. Third, the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, has confirmed to us that because of supply chain issues and uncertainty in that regard, it is taking longer to build a house now because of delays in getting components and uncertainty in that regard. What could have been a 20-week or 26-week programme has now been pushed out by four, five or six weeks in some instances. That is through no fault of the builder. No builder wants to spend a day longer on a site than is necessary. It is happening because of the lead-in times in getting materials. They are the three effects we are seeing at local authority level.