Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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624. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the significant amount of bureaucracy confronting local authorities that wish to construct housing (details supplied); if this process has been simplified over the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41770/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Social housing projects funded by my Department, like all Government Capital construction projects, must comply with the Government’s Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF), the objectives of which are to ensure greater cost certainty, better value for money and financial accountability during all stages of project delivery.

While my Department must comply with the CWMF, we also have a key focus on speedy delivery of social housing construction projects. Accordingly, arrangements have been made to streamline the nine points of review under the CWMF to just four points at which individual proposals are reviewed.  There is not a requirement to seek new approvals for projects several times over; rather, projects are reviewed at four key points (e.g. at initial appraisal stage and subsequently, at final tendering). Where project designs and, in particular, costs are consistent, the reviews by my Department are straightforward and completed on a timely basis. This process allows local authorities to forward design proposals and costings to my Department sequentially, as they advance the projects through their own planning work.

My Department also has regular informal technical dialogue with all local authorities to resolve issues with projects, which allows for projects to be moved from concept to completion as efficiently as possible. My Department's role in reviewing projects represents a small minority only of the time taken in advancing a social housing build project onto site.  Furthermore, the time taken for approvals will always depend on the quality and completeness of the initial proposal, the scale and complexity of individual projects and on the avoidance where possible of cost escalations in projects.

As well as streamlining the approvals process under the CWMF and enhancing the direct technical dialogue between my Department and the local authorities, under Rebuilding Ireland we have undertaken a review of the project approvals process for social housing, which is available at the following link: .

The recommendations of this Review include better 'pre-approval' communications on construction proposals, using opportunities to combine project approval stages and setting targets on projects for turnaround times for approval. These recommendations are being implemented by my Department and local authorities and a working group, comprising representatives of local authorities and my Department, will soon finalise new project approval and development timelines for both my Department and for the local authorities.

Additionally, my Department is working with local authorities to encourage greater take-up of the available options under both 'Design and Build contracts' through the Rapid Delivery Framework set up by the Office of Government Procurement and, for smaller projects (less than 15 units and less than €2m), greater use of the available single-stage approval process which may suit less complex projects.