Summary of ideas submitted in the Construction category…

• A mandatory requirement of invoice issuing for VAT purposes.
• Reduce house prices.
• National extension of the Rent-to-buy scheme.
• Development of bog land and land banks.
• Invest in wind power.
• The government should purchase 20,000 unsold homes for the affordable housing scheme.
• Removal of planning permission requirements on extensions of up to 75% of the excising building area.
• The government could finance existing proposals and initiatives which are, presently, not viable.
• The government to use rent allowance funds to purchase all unsold homes (at a discount) for people on the housing list.
• Utilise the unemployed construction workers to work on future development plans and create a public sector construction work force to eliminate tenders and secure employment.
• National extension of the rent-to-buy scheme.
• Get local communities to invest in schools which are awaiting construction approval.
• A refocus of the National Development Plan to move away from infrastructure and to focus on the building of schools. Which would negate the renting of prefabs.
• Freeze planning applications for five years.
• Introduce a first-time buyers grant but only temporarily to make people buy now.
• Complete proposals for development of Dun Laoghaire pier while construction prices are down.
• Retrain unemployed architects to develop new green construction materials.
• Govt. to provide full VAT refund on self build projects as it will enable many contractors to go back to work.
• Use prisoners to maintain up keep of cities and towns. Sell possessions of drug offenders to supply revenue to government.
• Property prices to drop.
• If there was a drop in Corporation Tax to 8% it would lead to increased inward investment. Use increased income tax revenue to offset the loss in Corporation Tax revenue.
• Employ construction workers to do repair work on piers etc around the country.
• Give unsold houses to the homeless.
• Pay equivalent of dole salary to employers to keep staff in jobs who would otherwise have been made redundant.
• Government to start major construction projects such as highways to show confidence and increase general public’s confidence.
• Build airport or stadium in unused bog land on Offaly / Westmeath border.
• Set up a negative equity fund so that if a house mortgaged for €300,000 was only worth €275,000, it would cover the difference and aid the banks.
• The government could offer grants for home improvement to stimulate construction and decrease unemployment.
• Get out-of-work tradesmen to participate in a programme to train apprentices so they can finish their work experience. Could be used as cheap labour to finish building projects
• Recycle all waste building materials, look to Germany for examples.
• Introduce rent to own schemes.
• Persuade builders to do odd jobs for schools etc rather than looking for jobs on large construction sites.
• Fund public construction projects.
• Replace once-off stamp duty with annual rate for term of house ownership.
• Raise architects interest in small projects such as house extension and change their fee to a set fee.
• Re-establish grants for Social Housing.