Vol. 540 No. 3
192 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if there is an ample supply of stone and building materials here to keep up with the demand for house building, road development and other major building projects; and if there have been any requests for the importation of such materials. [20760/01]
Two independent sources – the Building Materials Federation and the Irish Concrete Federation – have confirmed that there should be sufficient resources of building aggregates in Ireland to implement planned infrastructural investment under the National Development Plan 2000-2006. Notwithstanding this position, it is of course open to persons to import stone and building materials from other EU member states and that there is no statutory requirement to request permission from any public agency. A significant volume of building materials and products has traditionally been imported to supplement domestic production in meeting the needs of the construction industry. Such imports help to keep prices of construction products competitive.
