Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

As set out in the 2010 Revised Estimates for Public Services, the social housing budget across capital and current expenditure programmes is €1,071 billion. This represents a decrease of 18% when compared to the provisional outturn figures for 2009.

The Government's key priorities in shaping the overall housing provision for next year have been to focus the impact of necessary adjustments on the areas in which there is scope to maintain output through more flexible approaches and where the policy context supports such approaches, and to continue to direct available capital resources substantially towards the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. In keeping with this strategy, the reform programme, now well underway in my Department, involves a shift away from construction-acquisition and a one-size-fits-all approach to meeting social housing needs towards a more graduated system of supports. This refocusing in policy and financial terms is rooted in the clearly articulated rationale set out in the Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities.

While the allocations to local authorities for 2010, when finalised, will show a reduction in the provision for the main traditional local authority programme, I anticipate that, through more flexible market-based delivery mechanisms such as the rental accommodation scheme and long term leasing, as well as the continued significant support for the capital assistance scheme in 2010, delivery across the range of social housing measures next year will be of the order of 8,000 to 9,000 units. Of this total, I expect approximately half of all units delivered to come through a combination of leasing and RAS, the other half through new builds and acquisitions.

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