Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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There were a lot of questions but I will go through them as best I can. Deputies Coppinger and Boyd Barrett referred to a figure given last March of 1,400 units for delivery in 2015. That figure relates to council leasing and voluntary housing and it has not changed. We still expect to deliver more than 946 local authority builds and acquisitions and in excess of 440 voluntary housing units. The spend in respect of 2015 was €670 million and €119 million, which gives a total of €794 million. The spend for 2016 will be €811 million and €112 million, which is a total of €923 million. That is the volume of funding we are putting into housing.

The Deputies asked specific questions about targets. Deputy Boyd Barrett was not here when I explained why we sometimes acquire instead of construct. For 2015, our target in regard to local authority construction and acquisition, which we expect to meet, is 946 units, comprising in excess of 200 build units and 750 odd acquisitions. The Deputy asked about local authority trurnarounds. That activity does need to be ramped up, as I have acknowledged on previous occasions. We have put more than 300 new staff into councils. If local authorities have any further issues to raise with me, I have no problem dealing with them. As I said, councils, including Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, may use local property tax revenues to address housing issues. The Deputy asked about instructions from me to that authority. Certainly, discussions and instructions are ongoing at this time.

We expect to deliver 440 units under the capital assistance programme, 150 under regeneration and remedial works, and more than 1,000 in the area of restoration of voids. Those are the targets we set.