Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I apologise that I was not here to hear the opening statements. I have listened with interest and every question I had has gone out the window or another Deputy has asked it. I might go around the houses a little bit but I ask our guests to stick with me as I try to form my questions.

First and foremost, I will go back to the different steps that we must take and to address this as an emergency. My curiosity has always been around planning, how laborious it is, the different stages and how obstructive it can be at the same time.

I also noted the comments on working with the local authorities and staffing them correctly. I firmly believe that people often know the map but do not know the territory. If staffed and funded correctly, our local authorities are the best placed to deal with not just social housing but also planning applications for private housing. My next question is possibly for Mr. O'Flynn. Were obstacles removed and were local authorities allowed to make those decisions, how quickly would that develop the process? Does Mr. O'Flynn understand? Leaving aside the statutory timelines, how much quicker would the process be?

I come from a small but densely populated county, County Louth. Once upon a time, the small or medium-sized builder was the man - I will say "man" because there are still too few females in the industry - who built the one-off houses in the countryside. It was such builders who built the ten or 15 houses in the villages or just outside the towns. This is no longer a feature because, at the moment, they have serious difficulties with financing. They are actually being subcontracted to work on bigger jobs by the larger companies. That is fine. I have no problem with companies making a profit. On that basis, what are the witnesses' thoughts on the role of banks? We had representatives of the Central Bank in here two weeks ago and its approach is very much a prudent and hands-off one, that is, it does not interfere with the process. However, small and medium-sized builders cannot access finance and therefore the only deal in town is a local authority deal. That is hampering young people and young professionals in my area who wish to build their own homes because there is nobody available to build those homes.

On skilled labour, we very often get queries in respect of visas. It seems to be recognised that the skilled labour force we once had is no longer there. How quickly could we get them home? Are we addressing the issue of the labour force required to build these houses and reach the targets?