Mr Stewart Harrington, managing director of Dunloe House, has described as 'crude and unsophisticated' the level of research carried out by estate agents when advising property companies on the best use to make of development sites.

He told a luncheon meeting of the Irish branch of FIABCI, the international real estate organisation, that he never ceases to be amazed how little market research is carried out by agencies compared with what happens in industries such as in the food and drinks area.

Despite the enormous changes that had taken place in technology, the amount of hard information available regarding the requirements of end-users was still relatively crude. 'Most companies buying sites are still operating by the seat of their pants in terms of tenants or end-user demand.'

Mr Harrington, a former estate agent before joining Dunloe, acknowledged that there was quite a lot of research carried out in the retail sector but said the property industry generally had not availed of the talents available. He said the way forward for a lot of property companies was through joint ventures with with either State, semi-State, local authorities or large manufacturing companies. A number of these organisations had surplus properties which were lying fallow but some of them were afraid to dispose of them in a rising market. By entering into a joint venture with a well-managed and well-funded property company, they could participate in either a profit share or an uplift in value.