Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Deputy's contribution. He is correct to talk about a multiplicity of housing bodies in this country. We have hundreds of them. They operate at different tiers - tiers 1, 2 and 3 - tier 3 comprising the housing bodies that operate at a significant scale, that is, at the kind of scale we would like to see, although we would like them to do more, as housing bodies in other jurisdictions do. Later this month we will move to begin taking the voluntary regulation of the sector onto a statutory footing. In that process we hope to be able to entice larger housing bodies from abroad into this jurisdiction. We also hope some housing bodies will come together and work together. One of the changes we made as a result of the housing summit earlier this year - and the Deputy is right to point this out - is that local authorities will no longer compete with first-time house buyers and families looking to buy homes in high-demand areas. They will take that money and put it into building. That is important. If a local authority is not going to be competing with other householders, it does not make sense that housing bodies would compete with one another either. This is why it is important we have these managed plans for each site, per each local authority. The Minister of State, Deputy English, is responsible for working with the local authorities on each of these plans, which are being submitted to us at present, for each piece of land they have and the targets they have into 2018 and beyond so we can see how units will be built.

Regarding rapid build, there is a very quick turnaround time. My Department can give approval on the funding side within 24 hours. Then there can be a tendering process within four weeks and the house can be completed on site within six months of that process. One of the interesting things happening at present is that Dublin City Council has for the first time brought forward a multi-unit rapid framework. It hopes to deliver 600 apartments through rapid build. If this Dublin City Council project bears fruit, if it is successful and if it works to the timelines as envisaged, it will allow other local authorities to move in a similar vein and further increase our ambition for social housing.

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