Ms Deirdre Mason:

In terms of the assessment that is done for the applications that come to us, we receive applications for developments that are over four units. The local authorities have delegated sanction for anything less than that. The local authorities obviously have to do an assessment of the social housing need in their area before they send in the proposal to us, as well as the pipeline they have in terms of build and they also have to look at the availability of land. Basically, they look at the need and sustainable communities in terms of the percentage of social housing in the area, they agree the market rents - there is a whole process around that - and a proposal comes into the Department. If it is the enhanced lease, it goes through the Housing Agency as it is the national co-ordinator for that scheme. We then look at it in terms of the overall balance. Obviously, the cost of the scheme is very important. The speed with which the project can be delivered is also important. The sustainability of communities is considered as well. An assessment is done internally in which we take account of all those criteria. The first assessment is done by the local authority, however. I suppose it depends on the area in which the project is being developed. A lot of the development we are seeing now is in the Dublin area and involves apartments. It comes back to the local authority's need in the area and the types of units it requires.