14. Mr. W. M. F. Vaneasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether his attention has been drawn to the timber houses now being built by the Forestry Division of the Eireann Government for their forest workers; and whether he will arrange to obtain examples of these houses from the Eireann Government for erection in this country as an experiment.
§ Mr. H. MacmillanWe know the potentialities of timber houses, but with the present need to restrict imports I would not feel justified in encouraging their use.
Mr. VaneIn view of the claims for the rapid method employed in erecting these houses and also their low cost, does the right hon. Gentleman consider this experiment is worth while, particularly as no dollar currency is involved?
§ Mr. MacmillanIt is not only, alas, a question of dollar currency. What I have to try to do, and I admit that the balance changes from time to time and from month to month, is to try to get the maximum out of what we must import, and I think that for the moment I would rather get this timber in a form in which we can use it for other houses, whether of conventional or non-conventional type.