Ms AnnMarie Farrelly:

I make the initial point that acquisitions are not new to us. We regularly acquire property and I think that is the case right across the country. It is an extension of that process. It is a business transaction. We are investing in a property. We are acquiring it from a private individual. That process is well understood at a local authority level. The scale of this is bigger than we are used to, so there will need to be a certain prioritisation. We have committed to that in our statement today. We need to prioritise the tenant in situscheme and allocate resources to it. We have received some additional staff. Some of those posts are already filled and there are more to be filled, but there is no doubt the housing function in local authorities is a challenging environment and the staffing of it must be kept under review at all times.

I suggest one will hear varying reports from any business transaction, depending on which side of the transaction one is on. It is important we treat it as such with every landlord. It is about our having a fast, efficient process. I have already committed to that in terms of ensuring we bring that back to the CCMA to ensure that is the standardised approach across the country. It is ultimately a business transaction we need to transact with a private landlord and complete. On the other side of the equation is homelessness prevention, including working with the family at risk of homelessness and ensuring they receive the supports they need. We need to prioritise both and treat them in perhaps slightly different ways. I think I made the point earlier that reaching the sale agreed stage of the transaction is key for tenants to give them certainty about their future in the property. That is the priority we are putting on the transaction. Then the conveyancing and all the usual property transaction processes will take place as quickly as possible. Mr. O'Reilly mentioned a four-month period earlier. That is a very reasonable period in the context of a property acquisition and we will be aiming to complete acquisitions as quickly as we can. However, there are two sides to the transaction and we must bear in mind the business side of it must go through due process. It is not something that is new to local authorities, but we need to recognise there is a different scale here.