Mr. Dave Walsh:

More generally, in 2017 we had 156 whole-time equivalents in the organisation, while as of the end of 2020, it was 175. When we created the strategic housing unit to manage the inflow, we originally envisaged that six inspectors would be required to be dedicated to dealing with pre-applications and the applications as they came in. Very quickly, with the volume increasing from 39 cases in 2017 to 80 in 2019, and with 126 decided in 2020, we had to devote far more resources. We currently have 13 full-time inspectors devoted to dealing with both the pre-application process and the full assessment of applications.

On occasion, we have had to divert further people into that team because we are working within a very clear and limited timeline of 16-week decision-making or a 24-week timeline when there are oral hearings.