Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Two questions I asked at the start of the meeting were not answered. I asked many questions and it is understandable that they slipped through. The first question is to both the Department and the housing managers. Is it not possible for us to consider large-scale, local authority-led, mixed tenure, mixed income estates on local authority land, funded through a NAMA NARPS-type vehicle? I point to the Grange as one possibility, but is that not something the Department can actively consider? I ask this because it is somewhat simpler than having to come up with a complex arrangement with the private sector.

With regard to sustainable communities, it is not that I am opposed to infill schemes. As Mr. Coman knows, I strongly supported a number of them. It is that on the one hand the Department's policy is that it cannot have large-scale local authority build because of the requirements of sustainable communities but the vast majority of the new build in local authorities is infill in areas where there is already a high concentration, which seems to be a contradiction. The representatives from the Department might share what they seem to believe is the large body of international research on it because I have yet to come across it.

In terms of my supplementary question, I appreciate that it takes the resources and staff at both departmental and council level to speed up the approval and procurement process. What is Ms Nic Aongusa's hope in terms of the eventual length of time for that? If it is 18 months to two years on average currently, would she put a timeframe of six, nine or 12 months on it when all the changes she outlined are fully implemented?