Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in and I thank everyone who works in both of the county councils. They are challenging environments. They are to be commended on their great achievements over recent years.

It is welcome to see that, combined between both councils, between social and affordable homes, we are up around 12,000 homes. That is ambitious and welcome, and it will go a long way to meeting the need. The fact witnesses have demonstrated how local authorities can deliver quantum, high quality and can use State-owned lands to address the cost and affordability issues is to be commended.

The witnesses mentioned affordable pricing starting at €166,000. I welcome Deputy Gould's welcoming of the strong Government policy that has enabled delivery on that affordable price. He should consider supporting us a bit more because you never know what we could achieve together. On a serious note, the changed circumstances and the double digit construction inflation the witnesses mentioned is very real and anybody who is trying to do any work in their own home will know that. Delivery of affordability into the future and affordable cost rental will be critical. I appreciate witnesses cannot give us an actual rental price, but the fact they are working to deliver at a minimum of 25% below market rents is what people need to know they are actually doing.

In terms of increasing the output, I believe Mr. McLoughlin said it was four years from start to finish for a project. I agree with him, and if it was four years, we would all be able at least to work with that certainty. From my experience from a city perspective it can actually take a decade and sometimes longer, which is a big challenge for the city. One of the big challenges in the city is the planning process, which was mentioned, and the delays the process can cause, specifically when planning permissions are objected to and are caught up in the process. Will witnesses speak to how that is impacting or will impact on their pipelines going forward?

I would also like to ask about the homeless services. Dublin City Council operates the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. Between the two local authorities I believe there are around 1,200 applicants identified as homeless or at risk of homelessness. How many emergency homeless accommodations are they providing in their local authority areas? How many of those who are on their homeless lists or identified as being homeless are actually being accommodated in emergency accommodation in the city? If the witnesses do not have that number to hand, they can come back to me with it. I would like to understand that.

The costs are very challenging, but the last estimate I had of the cost of emergency accommodation for a family for a year is €80,000. Is that a charge the witnesses would identify as being the cost? It is important that, if that is the case, we keep that in mind when we talk about the cost of new builds. No emergency accommodation is a substitute for an actual home.

As for the tenants in situprocess, have witnesses instructed their housing officers to ask, when someone who is on the housing list comes to them with a notice to quit, if the landlord is selling and if he or she will sell to the local authority? If not, would the witnesses consider doing that?

The Croí Cónaithe scheme is being extended to the cities, something my party colleagues and I have pushed hard for. I am concerned about the value of €50,000 for a vacant and derelict property or €30,000 for a vacant property in the city. Do the witnesses think that will be sufficient to trigger a renovation and regeneration of vacant and derelict properties in their local authorities?

I appreciate there are a lot of questions, but perhaps we could start with Fingal County Council and then move to South Dublin County Council.