Mr. Tommy Ryan:

The ghost estates were planned during the boom when we had continuous growth. There are some ghost estates in smaller towns and villages in Roscommon which were developed in accordance with population projections at the time. Due to the downturn in the economy, there is not the same demand for houses in these locations. The demand for social housing in smaller towns and villages has also fallen. Many unfinished estates are in smaller towns and villages where demand for social housing is not high. The demand is in larger urban centres such as Roscommon town and Monksland, which is near Athlone. This leads to a supply issue as these areas do not have enough housing. There will be a need for some form of construction programme, such as direct provision by the local authority, long-term leasing from the private sector or approved housing bodies under the capital advance leasing facility, CALF. Rents for private accommodation are increasing so the only solution in larger urban areas is to begin construction.

Roscommon has a number of small local parish approved housing bodies and I am not sure whether CALF would be suitable for them because it is not fully funded. These bodies are not in a position to avail of it and it will only be available to larger housing bodies. This will leave a gap in smaller towns and villages such as we have in Roscommon and east Galway. I do not know how this can be dealt with unless through direct provision by local authorities or a change to the scheme which would suit small housing bodies. We have a demand for houses throughout a large geographical area but the unfinished estates will not resolve the problem.