Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

26. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if greater discretion will be provided to local authorities in regard to the construction of new social housing schemes and to remove unnecessary procedures that are causing delays. [45089/17]

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

40. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to review the level of bureaucracy involved for local authorities to provide final approval for new social housing schemes. [45088/17]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 40 together.

Social housing projects funded by my Department, like all Government-funded 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, it is also determined to ensure speedy delivery of social housing construction projects. Accordingly, my Department has streamlined the nine stages of project review under the CWMF to just four stages. 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 projects through the planning process.

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 very small proportion 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 Irelanda review of the project approvals process for social housing has been undertaken; this is available at the following link:

.

The recommendations of this Review are now being implemented and a working group, comprising representatives of local authorities and my Department, will soon finalise new project approval and development timelines. 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.