James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I agree. It is simply taking too long to get certification for the use of modular builds in this country. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, is engaging with his counterpart in the Department of enterprise. We are determined to get to a situation where we can get certification done at a much quicker pace. We need it done. We have an ageing workforce. It is getting more difficult to replace them. If we want to go from 30,000 houses a year to 60,000 houses a year, it has to be done using modern methods of construction. That is modular build. I was in Hong Kong in March. There, 45-storey apartment blocks are being built purely using modular. They can do it at an extraordinary pace. We need to do it. It is also about productivity. We have very low productivity in the building sector in Ireland. Again, that is because we are not using modern methods of construction compared to other countries. We are behind the curve on this. The Minister of State and I are determined that we will catch up very quickly.

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