Ms Sarah Neary:

Over the past four years we have done a huge amount in order to streamline the approval process for local authorities bringing forward building projects. We have worked on a 59-week target programme from conception to starting on site. That is a little over a year from concept to signing contracts and getting on site. That compares very favourably with the private sector. A report done by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, RIAI, in 2017 shows that, on average, a housing project would take up to three years from start to completion. Since we worked with local authorities on that at the back end of 2017 and implemented it in 2018 we have seen good results in terms of meeting the 59-week programme and in many cases beating it.

One of the very successful ways of beating it has been to use design and build contracts. We have supported local authorities in developing frameworks for that, which reduce the procurement period for the contract. Design and build also shifts the detailed design, post-planning, onto the contractor rather than the local authority. We have seen the four Dublin local authorities using it, and a number of other local authorities including Wicklow and Cork are in the process of adopting it now. The pre-construction programme is reduced. In one case we have seen a project go from conception to starting on site in 43 weeks and we have seen very good results in terms of construction on site with 30-unit and 40-unit projects being delivered within about a year. That is as good as any private sector delivery, and it beats it in many cases.