Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Let us talk facts and be sensible about the issue.

Hard effort over a number of years involving a range of different measures has turned the tide back on scarce housing supply and unacceptable house inflation. We are now seeing greater moderation as housing supply responds to demand. The figures published today are heartening and the general view of people who make these forecasts is that this year increases might be 7% or 8%. Perhaps that is still too high but compared to the position in recent years, we are making progress and we have done that by maximising supply. The only real action we can take is to maximise supply and that is what we have done.

What we have done has not happened by accident. Much energy has been spent in increasing the supply of serviced land for housing and ensuring the planning system operates in full support of housing policies. In that context, my Department has issued planning guidelines on residential densities and design and, more recently, on sustainable rural housing. I thank the Deputy for his favourable comments on those areas.

One of the central roles of Government is to facilitate the provision of housing and our record speaks for itself. The recent national survey of zoned residential land indicates there is a satisfactory stock of serviced land available throughout the country. At the end of last June there were 12,500 hectares of serviced, residentially zoned land with an estimated yield of over 367,000 units, which is about five years' supply at current levels of output.

One of our concerns in recent years has been to increase output in the Dublin metropolitan area because for most of the 1990s, particularly in the latter part of the 1990s, housing supply in Dublin was about 9,000 or 10,000 new units per year but last year we achieved almost 17,000 completions in Dublin, which is up approximately 80% on the figure five years ago. That is fully in line with the ambitious projections of the regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area. If we can sustain that level in Dublin, and I accept there has been a problem price wise and supply wise in Dublin which has been slower to respond than other parts of the country — last year's figure was very pleasing — we will bring the same supply to Dublin as we did to other regions.

It has been the Government's long-standing concern to expand the supply of and improve access to affordable housing. Almost 10,000 households have been assisted through the 1999 affordable housing scheme and the shared ownership scheme since 2000. Those figures are broadly in line with the NDP targets. The implementation of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-04 is designed to extend this process further. Despite the negative comments one hears, Part V is now gathering momentum and is set to make a major contribution to the delivery of social and affordable housing in the coming years.

Up to the end of last year, it is estimated that approximately 800 social and affordable units have been acquired by local authorities through Part V arrangements. In addition, there have been nine land transfers to local authorities and almost seven hectares and a further 150 partially or fully serviced sites have been transferred to local authorities and voluntary housing bodies. In addition, approximately £10 million has been received in payments in lieu and under the withering levy. These are very substantial moneys which are ring-fenced for further development of social and affordable houses. We are confident that approximately 6,000 units of social and affordable housing will be delivered through Part V arrangements between 2005 and 2007.

Prices have been mentioned. Deputy Hayes talked about houses in Dundrum for €300,000. They are not starter homes.

See this speech in context