Micheál Carrigy (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

That is all of the speakers for the first round. I will go back around again but before doing so, I have a few questions. The first is for the Housing Agency. I invite its representatives to provide some background for the recommendation that was put forward for an RPZ system nationwide and then, basically, as is. It is my understanding that there were four different proposals on the table, including recommendations that had come from the Housing Commission. I am interested to know why it was felt this was the best option going forward.

My next question is for the LDA on the Columb Barracks site in Mullingar. There is a lot of controversy and angst in the community about the proposals for that site and when they can expect to see development on it.

Mention was made of designing and financing projects for local authorities on their own sites. I ask our guests to fill us in a little more on that, particularly the timescales for delivery. The CCMA was before this committee a couple of weeks ago and spoke about the four-stage process and the fact that projects for which it is meant to take 57 weeks to draw down funding from the Department are taking up to three years. What would the timelines be on local authority projects through the LDA?