Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 14 December 2023

Public Accounts Committee

Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage - Programme A - Housing
Financial Statements 2022 - The Housing Agency
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022
Chapter 11 - Utilisation of the Land Aggregation Scheme Sites

9:30 am

Mr. Graham Doyle:

I understand that. With regard to 29% of the social housing target having been reached in the first three quarters, it is always the case that the delivery comes in at the end, in the last quarter. In fact, a lot comes in as late as December. The social housing numbers will be significantly up on last year at the end of this year, even though 29% of the target was met in the first three quarters of the year. It is quite the phenomenon but year after year, the pattern shows delivery in the final quarter of the year. Ms Timmons may talk about affordable housing more generally in terms of the schemes and the building up of the pipelines, in addition to delivery in respect of those, but there is no doubt that the pattern concerning when units are delivered, counted and paid for is to be seen primarily at the end of the year. As I said in my opening statement on concerns over spending, at this point of the year we are €702 million in capital ahead of where we were at this point last year. You can see that happening in the final quarter of the year.