Ms Margaret Geraghty:

In response to the question on NAMA, Fingal County Council was initially offered 279 units by NAMA, of which 162 were subsequently withdrawn by it. We confirmed availability for a majority of the remaining 158 units. The units we turned down were in one specific scheme where we already had a significant amount of social housing across various delivery mechanisms, and in a scheme where the management fees, on an annual basis, ran into several thousand euro. Of the 158 units for which we confirmed demand, at this point 105 have been completed and are occupied and the remainder are awaiting completion.

Fingal County Council's target under the social housing strategy from 2015 to 2017 is 1,376 properties, with a funding envelope of €81 million. To date, we have delivered 522 social housing units under the strategy and within that we have completed two of our own direct-build construction schemes, one which we have just tenanted and one which will be occupied by the end of June. We have approved or agreed, with the Department and through various other initiatives, a further 668 properties. In terms of reaching our target, at this point we are in excess of halfway. Subject to funding being available to us, we have examined the various mechanisms of delivery in respect of private developments where Part V will apply with the affordable housing bodies and under the various leasing schemes. We believe we can stretch the target to closer to 2,000 units over the three-year duration of the strategy, should funding be available.

What the council is doing in terms of construction and acquisition represents approximately one third of our target. Another third of the target is largely made up of our collaboration with the various affordable housing bodies and then there is direct engagement with private landlords on RAS properties and developers who might offer us opportunities to purchase houses. To date, we have brought nine projects through the Part VIII planning process, one of which is a rapid-build project which the councillors approved last month. We have eight further projects to bring to the council during 2015, including four rapid-build schemes.

Beyond the initial three-year strategy, we have a number of sites in council ownership that require infrastructure on which we plan to start the process of preparing master plans this year with a view to being able to bring developments on stream at a number of other locations. Remediation works are required and road access is needed for some schemes, as well as upgrades to existing infrastructure. We are doing master plans on sites that are bigger and where we would envisage them delivering mixed tenure developments. Again, we will seek to have collaboration with affordable housing bodies in that regard. We will be looking at a mixture of social housing, affordable rental, some private development and housing for senior citizens also. Within Fingal, we have a very young and rapidly growing population but we also have an ageing population.

An analysis suggests that bringing forward and developing a senior citizens programme would allow us free up under-utilised stock of which we have a good deal currently because of the absence of choices for people to downsize and move on. That is something we are examining. We also have potential to develop a number of small infill schemes in some of our existing estates, which would be suitable to one or two-bedroom properties. That would allow for downsizing to take place and for people to remain in their existing communities.

In terms of private development in Fingal, some developers have schemes under construction but what is on the horizon is still quite small in terms of the Part V units we expect to be delivered up to 2017. With affordable housing bodies it is somewhere in the region of 300 Part V units. Our door is open, and we have met a number of developers who are interested in how they might collaborate with the local authority to front-load some of the development, or Part V delivery, which supports their ability to raise funds. That is something we would be keen to explore further.

Following an analysis of the income profile of people on our housing list, we see there are opportunities within our scheme for people currently on the social housing list who may be in a position to avail of an incremental purchase scheme. In some cases we believe a build to buy model might be something we can examine also.

Our relationship with the Department is positive and strong. It is important to note that in a situation where we brought forward proposals for acquisitions or otherwise, we have benefited from funding at short notice to conclude those.

As is the case with the other Dublin local authorities, our relationship with the affordable housing bodies is also strong. They are very proactive in Fingal. Not all the projects we would like to see come to fruition do, but they are working with us and have a significant role to play in that regard.

To conclude, we will meet our targets. In fact, there is opportunity to go beyond meeting our targets and I am optimistic, with the working relationship we have with the Department and the affordable housing bodies, that we can do so.