Lord Mayor says government to blame for housing delays, not local authorities

THE LORD Mayor of Cork has slammed the Housing Minister's threat to remove power from local authorities for failing to deal with housing issues.
Cork's first citizen, Cllr Mick Finn, instead pointed the finger at the red tape surrounding the delivery of housing projects, claiming that the time between local approval and the granting of funding is too long.

Mr Finn pointed to projects in Togher, Ballyphehane, Barrack Street, White Street and High Street as just some of the examples where issues have emerged in Cork, adding that some schemes still haven't started despite being approved by City Hall more than 12 months ago.
"It seems that the Minister doesn't trust councils to do the job," Mr Finn said.
"There are great projects being put forward and signed off on by Cork councils and they’re being hamstrung by the bureaucracy in the Housing Department where everything is going back and forth, being double, triple and quadruple checked."

The Lord Mayor said local authorities haven’t been given the flexibility to work on the ground. He cited a development of four housing units in Ballyphehane as an example.

Minister Murphy has written to three Dublin councils threatening to remove some of their powers if they do not immediately tackle the homelessness crisis. He is expected to write to more.