Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

2056. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps taken and dates when each step was completed or cleared by and between the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and Dublin City Council, from initial presentation by DCC until the current date with regard to housing projects (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38639/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The 4-stage approval process, under which assessments are carried out for publicly funded capital projects for which my Department is the sanctioning authority, is a streamlining of the 9 stages covered under Capital Works Management Framework.

The 4 stages are:

Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal (establish the business case);

Stage 2 – Brief pre-planning developed design and cost check;

Stage 3 – Pre-tender cost check;

Stage 4 – Tender approval.

These 4 stages are advanced largely in parallel with the normal local authority work on planning, designing and tendering of social housing construction projects. Therefore projects continue to be advanced while stages are cleared and the approval process does not negatively impact on the overall delivery.

The time taken for advancement through the various stages will always vary, with the quality and completeness of the initial proposal and subsequent submissions as well as the scale and complexity of individual projects. My Department also encourages informal technical dialogue to resolve issues and while that might appear to add to the time it takes to issue an approval, it is normally a more productive engagement in terms of getting projects from concept to completion as efficiently as possible.

In relation to the schemes mentioned by the Deputy, they are at various stages in the approval process; the first is Stage 1 approved since July 2015, the second was submitted to my Department for consideration as a Rapid Build scheme in August 2017 and the third received Stage 4 tender approval in November 2014.

My Department continues to liaise with DCC on a regular basis in relation to the advancement and scheduling of social housing projects in the Dublin area with a view to supporting DCC deliver much needed homes for those who need them most.