Mr. Brian Geaney:

It depends on the area of the city the applicant is looking for. We have just over 2,600 people who are actively engaging with our choice-based letting system. People will, at times, wait for the area and the offer they want. We have had 32 refusals of accommodation to date this year from people who are in emergency accommodation.

Cork City Council will complete a 30 unit scheme this year for downsizing which will be used for local authority houses which are underoccupied. We have a financial contribution scheme in place for private homeowners. Our intention under our housing programme is to develop more of those. There is a substantial demand in the city for that.

On design teams and our programme delivery team, we have augmented resources over the past 12 to 18 months. As projects are coming through the system, project costs are being made available to the local authority. We are satisfied that we have adequate resources in place to go forward with a substantial construction programme. We have just over 1,200 units in our project pipeline. Of these, 345 are under construction and more than 200 will be completed in the current year.

We have active engagement with the approved housing bodies sector. All the major bodies are met on a bi-monthly basis. We also have a memorandum of understanding in place with them to ensure they are not competing with each other or the local authority as development opportunities come up.

On cost rental, the council approved a substantial scheme of 112 units in Blackpool recently and we are looking at a mixture of social and affordable rental at that location with the housing association involved.

In the city we have 16 brownfield sites under construction. There is a lack of greenfield sites in the city, meaning that we rely on sites that deliver ten, 15 or 20 units. There are 345 units under construction.

All members are aware of the four-stage approval process. Timelines have improved. We are certainly making good progress with the Department on various projects that we put before it. Part V, as the chief executive alluded to in her statement, is slow in Cork because the majority of construction is either in social housing or student accommodation where Part V does not apply.