Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions and opening statements. We are in the midst of a housing crisis. In that context, one thing that strikes me is the fact that everyone says the solution is to build more houses. That is pretty obvious. The difficulty we have with labour restrictions and everything else in this regard is a major problem. The tendency seems to be, and it is a valid one, to move to the system used in other countries where houses are manufactured and constructed more so on site instead of being built in situ from the ground up. This approach has the advantages of speed, efficiency and effectiveness. It brings us back to the point made by Ms Jammet concerning the ability to deconstruct these houses and reconstruct them elsewhere. How much work is involved in coming up with systems like that in respect of what are often referred to as modular-type houses?

Will there be a situation in the future whereby these houses can be easily expanded or their structure and layout easily changed in order to do that?

On the materials being used, we are told we need to move away from concrete-based houses and towards more renewable or less carbon-intensive structures. How much research and development is going into that? In an Irish context, we have a difficulty with dampness. It is one of the main problems. What is the long-term sustainability of such products?

On recycling the products that are used, a new method in road construction is that the top layer is taken off, recycled and produced back out and there is no material, except additional bitumen or tar, going in. Can that type of method be used for concrete? Can it be recycled in a similar manner? Where are we with that and how widespread are the situations in which it can be used? I imagine it can only be used on a large scale. It would be difficult to do that kind of thing on smaller construction sites.