Mr. Frank Curran:

In regard to delays, we have had many discussions with the Department down through the years about the approval process. The Department, like us and every other public body, is subject to the public spending code and the various governance arrangements that are in place. We previously agreed to bring it down to a four-stage approval process that takes approximately 50 weeks. In more recent years, we have been working on the design-build process, which has shortened that. In Wicklow, we are delivering schools through design-build and the initial process is taking 43 to 45 weeks, which is a significant improvement. The Department now has a single-stage approval process for schools for projects up to €6 million, which speeds up the whole process. It is very useful for local authorities and we will certainly be taking the Department up on it.

Regarding the serviced sites fund, it currently deals with large-scale infrastructure projects, including roads, sewerage and so on, that are over and above the norm. They are covered, which will allow the houses to be more affordable. The Senator is talking about social infrastructure, such as playgrounds and parks, for which there are various sources of funding. It would usually come through us, by way of our community development levies, and we provide parks, open spaces and playgrounds all the time. There are also various grants available such as the town and village renewal scheme, the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme and the urban regeneration and development fund. We draw on those sources of funding all the time to develop community infrastructure.

In terms of guaranteed affordability, as Mr. Taaffe pointed out, we are doing a lot in terms of our procurement process. We are working with the OGP on design-build and having standard layouts etc. in order to reduce the costs as much as we can. After that, the serviced sites fund would kick in to provide the subsidy and discount available to people.