Mr. John Hannigan:

It is not my agency but I will take some of the heat off some of the other agencies that might be involved. Yesterday we launched a site that has taken seven years to get to the turning of the sod. It is still another 18 months away from delivery. Part of the problem with some sites is that ownership, particularly if they are coming from local authority ownership, can be complex. Getting clean title on properties can be very difficult, particularly if there was another business there previously that may have contamination or other issues. I am aware of the site the Chair has mentioned because I bid for it when with another agency many years ago. We were not successful.

There are also difficulties with planning. Part 8 can be fantastically helpful but it can also be quite long and complex. It requires quite a lot of work beforehand that people do not see. They see a site going into the Part 8 consultation process and coming out of it but the element that takes place prior to this can be quite long and arduous.

An AHB pulling together the finance for a particular project can also be a complex process depending on what is going on to it. There are multiple reasons it can take longer than normal. For the project we have just started a large proportion of the delay was due to trying to assemble all of the pieces of the land where it had been carved up over a number of years. Getting clean title on it was very difficult. We tried to use Part 8 for it but we were told to go the standard route. That took a little bit longer.

There are multiple reasons for delays. None of us want delays because most of us have to carry a financial site cost. Local authorities, and rightly so, borrowed in the past and are looking to clear the debt to be able to move on and purchase other loans. That in itself can be a difficulty in paying for it at a particular point in time.