Mr. Michael Walsh:

I will answer a few of the general policy questions. A question was asked about the capacity of local authorities. The simple reality is that we are at the coalface. We know the demands and the needs. We believe we have the capacity to respond to the demands made of us, as long as we know what we are being asked to do. Eight or ten years ago, we delivered between 6,000 and 7,000 units by means of direct construction. We can return to that level within a couple of years if it is clear to us that the Legislature or the Government is requiring us to do so. We have faced a challenge over the past two or three years. We had moved almost completely away from the direct delivery model. From 2015 onwards, we were asked to accelerate direct delivery again. That takes time when one is starting from the complete inception of sites. We have a pipeline of projects now. Reference has been made to the four-stage approval process, which is less relevant now that we have a pipeline and the stream of housing has started to flow. I would be absolutely confident that in a limited period of time, we can return to the direct delivery of significant numbers of houses.

Rebuilding Ireland is not insignificant in that context. Regardless of whether one agrees with it as a policy platform, at least it sets out that 47,000 houses are to be delivered in particular formats over a period of four or five years. We have been asked whether, as managers, we are critical of the level of resources that is available. From our point of view, the key issue is knowing what will be available and when. If we have that knowledge, we can plan and resource accordingly and put the necessary steps in place. I would be the first to accept that under the current arrangements, we have been under pressure to deliver and it has taken time. We were going from a position of zero. We had lost all of our inherent capacity in this space. Now we are going again very significantly. There are 1,500 units on site in the current year. That will be 2,500 next year. That figure could be increased if we were satisfied about the availability of resources. The local authority sector can certainly deliver in this context.

There was a reference to the policy issues that are affecting the leaseback scheme. We are as conscious as anybody of the need to deliver housing units. We have no difficulty working with any schemes. If we have one slight issue, it is that there may be too many schemes at present. We are trying to manage and service various schemes in a host of areas, including the lease and repair and buy and renew schemes. We are working with the housing bodies on leasing, direct delivery and other forms of housing provision. In some respects, simplicity is better than a host of schemes. As a sector, we are very happy to work with whatever schemes are available to us to deliver new units. We are at the coalface of the need for such units.

In the past two or three years, we have used all the resources from Exchequer funding that have been available to us. Some of those resources were used for acquisitions, but only where local authorities deemed that acquisition was a better and more timely response than construction. In many areas, acquisition is still delivering significantly better value for money and is not interfering with the market.

There was a query about whether the 3% target with respect to vacant properties is sufficiently ambitious. We would reserve our judgment in that regard. We have concerns about the CSO statistics. A serious body of work needs to be done to re-establish the position. If we had one wish in the morning, it would be for the CSO statistics for vacant houses to be available to us at an individual level. That would bring this whole process forward by four, five or six months. We would be quite happy to use any of the measures that are available. We find that the CPO process with regard to derelict sites and dangerous structures is frustrating in many respects and comes at a significant cost. The elephant in the room in this overall space is the constitutional right to property, which complicates the process, adds expense and can lead to contests.