Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, said he would like to see a slowdown in the housing market and, according to the Construction Industry Federation, he has got his wish as we now have a significant slowdown which will cause concerns for the economy for the next couple of years. The CEO of the Construction Industry Federation said on a news bulletin this afternoon that three of the pillars of construction were sound enough but he was quite clear that house building had gone. House building has a huge impact on Government revenue and we must be clear about what we say on the economy because there will be serious concerns as a result. If we in this House are to be relevant we should have robust debates in a proper manner. I look forward to the contribution of some of the people who are not politically aligned. They can speak their minds, unlike some of us.