Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to address this matter. I met virtually with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and its representatives went through the report with me. It is a very informative and good piece of work, which the SCSI did with my senior officials. We have taken that work on and are continuing some collaborative work with the organisation. The reports, Real Cost of New Housing Delivery 2020 and the Real Costs of New Apartment Delivery, published in 2021, set out the typical costs associated with residential delivery. The reports identified the constituent costs, which include construction, land, developments levies, professional fees, selling costs, finance and VAT.

A multipronged collaborative approach across government and industry is required to address and reduce the wide-ranging costs involved in residential delivery. Interestingly, the report found apartment developments of between five and eight stories recorded reductions of between 2% and 9% in overall cost delivery in that area where the focus was on off-site build and delivery. I would like to see more of that.

Both reports demonstrate that construction costs account for almost 50% of the delivery costs. Issues relating to construction costs are generally a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform but the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has an input in that area.

An innovation and digital adoption team to improve industry productivity across seven actions has been established. My Department is actively engaging on these initiatives which aim to improve efficiency and reduce construction costs, while achieving compliance with building regulations and other minimum quality standards. Separately, I am bringing forward reforms to the planning system, such as mainstreaming aspects of the strategic housing development process, which will conclude once the extension granted by the previous Minister has expired, reviewing the judicial review process and developing new e-planning initiatives, which may contribute to some reduction in holding times and costs and provide greater clarity around procedures.

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