Message from CEO, Paul Tierney
September was a particularly busy month with lots of work streams ongoing and some important announcements for MMC Ireland.
Our pre-budget submission [https://mmcireland.ie/mmc-ireland-pre-budget-submission-2024/] was submitted to the Government and has been acknowledged by the Department of Public Expenditure, thanks once again to all who contributed to this important document. We look forward to follow-on discussions post-budget and I will keep you updated as items progress.
Many members were interviewed by Daithi Downey from NESC late last year and we then had a further half-day roundtable with the executives of NESC to give our insights into the MMC landscape, with a particular focus on housing. The NESC report [https://mmcireland.ie/boosting-irelands-housing-supplymodern-methods-of-construction/] was put before Cabinet three weeks ago and has been issued and supported by the Government. The insights from you have been invaluable in shaping this important MMC Report and reiterates the point that the Government is listening and wants to be industry-informed when it comes to MMC policy.
The Dept. of Housing has updated its standard MMC designs for their current MMC framework on the back of the feedback you provided earlier this year. We met with the Dept. three weeks ago and the updated designs can be efficiently built using both 3D volumetric and 2D panelised solutions using steel, timber or concrete solutions. These regional frameworks will be published over the coming months and I will share the updated designs with you shortly. Thank you to all the members who provided valuable feedback to assist the Dept to design homes that we can efficiently build.
We announced a strategic partnership with CIOB this month: https://www.ciob.org/news/ciob-and-mmc-ireland-announce-strategic-partnership This is the CIOB’s first alliance with an MMC representative body worldwide. We will work together to further develop MMC policies and strategies across all sectors and we are keen to develop strategies around Education, Healthcare and Infrastructure. We will also be exploring knowledge sharing between bodies and we will share this with you once fully developed.
The MMC Ireland Hub was a huge success at the Offsite Expo in Coventry. It was great to see so many members there and thank you for the great feedback. I hope the connections you made serve you well and if there is any follow-on assistance you need, please reach out to us and we will look after you. I would like to thank both Katie Tallon and Anna Whiting for doing such a fantastic job putting this together and looking after our members so well. We will do the same next year and should you need further information about the event please reach out.
Your Board will be reaching out to you during the month of October and will look to set up calls to have some facetime with you. We want your feedback to assist us in shaping 2025 for your benefit. We are here to serve you and your priorities are our priorities. We have made significant progress over the last year in positioning ourselves as the trusted representative body for Government for all MMC-related Housing policy matters and we will use that trust to further expand our reach into Education, Healthcare and Infrastructure.
Finally there will be two member events this side of Christmas; the launch of the members’ Technical Catalogue in late October and a further briefing event in November in Dublin, followed by a networking reception for members. We will finalise the details over the next couple of weeks and update you during the month to give you plenty of time should you choose to stay over in Dublin for the evening. I look forward to seeing you at the October working group meetings – details below – and at upcoming events.
Thank you,
Paul
