Planning delays are stalling Cork Docklands redevelopment, Brian O’Callaghan tells summit
The pace of development across all areas of the construction sector is not fast enough to satisfy Cork’s skyrocketing population, an industry summit has heard.
Speaking at the Southern Construction Summit in Cork on Thursday, O’Callaghan Properties managing director Brian O’Callaghan said significant delays in the planning process are holding up the developments of certain dockland projects.
“We have planning permission for the Goulding’s site for 1,325 apartments. That is subject to other planning permission which is currently delayed since October 2022.
Mr O’Callaghan added that while several measures are in place to enable the construction of apartments including recent developments in transport infrastructure and the availability of capital grants, there are other things that “need to be done quickly.”
The population of Cork is predicted to increase by 50% over the next two decades, with significant investment needed to cater to a growing area.
Mr O’Callaghan said the docklands projects — Ireland’s largest regeneration project — would see 10,000 new homes, enough to accommodate 20,000 residents while creating 25,000 jobs.
However, he said: “What has been done to date is not enough. The Land Development Agency and other agencies cannot do all this alone, nor should they. They need international capital.”
He added that foreign investment was critical in supporting the supply of housing, but returns “were just not there” in the current high-interest rate environment.
Mr O’Callaghan’s comments echo recent warnings made to Finance Minister Michael McGrath whose officials said Government housing targets cannot be reached without private capital from investment funds.
This month, Mr McGrath said the Government would revise its housing targets upwards, accepting that more needs to be done to satisfy demand.
However, Construction Industry Federation southern region director Joanne Treacy said that while Cork has been identified as a regional centre, “we need the investment to reach that ambition.” The region has been allocated €10.4bn by Project Ireland 2040, reflecting around 17% of its total investment, with €31.4bn (46%) going to Dublin. On a per capita basis, Cork has received just over €10,200 for Project Ireland 2024, with Dublin receiving almost double that at €19,000 per person.
“This shows the lack of fair funding being allocated to the Southern region,” Ms Treacy said.
“If Cork is to be the regional centre that it has been identified as, why are we still seeing such an imbalance in these funding allocations.
Ms Treacy also warned of delays in the planning process, adding Cork will need an exponential rise in permissions granted to deliver housing targets.
“We need planning reform. We need to reduce the delays and provide certainty of timelines for decisions. We have seen how this impacts the dockland developments — this has to be done much faster.”
Speaking at the summit, Cork City Council assistant chief executive Brian Geaney said local authorities need to be more agile in delivering necessary infrastructure.
“Compared to other countries, infrastructure in Ireland takes so long to deliver. We have had projects in Cork city go on for years. This is not acceptable. While there are factors outside of our control, from a state perspective, we need to move.
“We have very substantial population targets and we have to act much quicker.”
