Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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213. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he or a body under its aegis has estimates for the number of weeks it takes from the granting of planning permission to commencement on site for social housing units. [23219/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Precise information on the number of weeks it takes from the granting of planning consent to commencement on site for a social housing construction project is not readily available.

While ordinarily, local authorities, on securing planning approval, will move on to prepare tender proposals, followed by the tender process itself, the post-tender evaluation, contract negotiations and commencement on site, this sequence does not always apply. For example, work may already have been undertaken on tender preparation ahead of the normal sequence of project advancement.

The outcome of the planning process can also have a direct impact on the time required to advance a project. If stipulations or variations are specified in the planning approval granted for a project, a local authority may need to alter designs and costings to take account of this and the time taken to respond to this depends largely on the variations imposed, which cannot be foreseen in advance.