Mr. Conor O'Connell:

Regarding the SME sector in particular, over the past two years, we have seen an alignment. The problems are the same regardless of whether you are a small or big builder. It is access to land and infrastructure and the regulatory environment around those two areas in particular. Getting through the planning system is a regulatory burden. It has changed significantly all the requirements at local authority level. There are problems when you go to connect your infrastructure and get your connection agreement. There were problems in Portlaoise during the first six months of this year. The capacity at the ESB substation was not there to deliver housing that was halfway completed. There were 70 units in Portlaoise that could not be connected to the local substation because the capacity had been used up. That is a typical scenario that has arisen largely in the eastern part of the country over the past number of years.

Similarly, with regard to connection agreements, there might be issues relating to the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant. As housing has developed in a local town, the capacity within the wastewater treatment plant has been used up. That is extremely challenging when you have your planning and funding in place. Suddenly you cannot build out, sell the units and recycle funding. For a SME builder, that is a very significant issue.