Mr. Robert Burns:

On turnaround time it is important to set out what that comprises. It is the time that it takes to repair or do the works and also the time it takes to allocate the property and get it back into stock. It is also the time from when the keys are handed in and the house is cleaned up and any legal issues or overholding are dealt with. We also have properties that are in legal limbo so we try to deal with that.

The maintenance frameworks definitely help us because if one looks at it we are trying to pick off the different elements so we really focus on the maintenance. The contracts are in place and we have very robust processes in terms of inspecting and doing the works and getting it back in. Some delays relate to reconnecting to utilities and some are outside our control. However, there is a piece of work we are doing about allocations and making sure that we can re-let in as short a time as possible.

The other important thing to remember is that the reason this timeframe is so long it due to a much wider issue. It is to do with probably historical maintenance of the housing stock across Ireland generally. We have not had the planned proactive maintenance approach and it is really positive that maybe we will going forward. Fingal is part of another pilot project with the housing delivery co-ordination office looking at a planned maintenance project for all of the housing stock. If we make that investment year on year, when houses fall vacant we should not have as much work to do and the turnaround time will be much shorter. That is the experience of the AHBs and of a lot of the housing bodies in Northern Ireland and the UK.