Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have the floor for the moment. The bottom line is there are things at which we should be looking but we are not. I have tried to support the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, all along. I have said that we cannot start a giant stalled ship in five minutes and it takes time to do it. I am nonetheless getting very tired of promises. I get distressed looking at people who can afford to pay a mortgage but who cannot get one.

I have a family member who will lose her house to a bank because the equity in the house was taken by a partner who disappeared with the money in his pocket. The banks go after the asset rather than the money. Do not talk to me about bankers as I could speak from now until Christmas about them.

I draw the Minister of State's attention to the red tape matter raised at Dublin City Council recently. Under the current process, local authorities seeking to build social housing worth more than €2 million must go through a four-stage process with the Department known as the cost-effectiveness analysis. This includes the approval for the design expenditure, approval to proceed with planning, approval to proceed to tender and approval of the tender window. The target time for the completion of the process is 59 weeks and according to the Department, its approach process accounted for 15 of the 59 weeks for getting social housing construction under way. It was reported that Dublin City Council hired a panel of suitable consultants to assist staff in compiling these reports. Fianna Fáil, for its part, stated it wants the threshold raised from €2 million to €6 million, and according to the Minister, it would save six to eight weeks in the process. We would still be talking about a year to get houses through the system.

I could go on but I know the Minister of State has more access to these issues than I do. How long is the site in Shanganagh there now? Is it 15 years? How long is the site in Cherrywood there? For God's sake, people can put systems in place that can build houses rapidly. Rapid-build houses are taking a year to construct. I brought the Minister of State to see a system that can build a house in a couple of months so can we please change our thinking? I know the Minister of State is trying to do some good work.