Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The most recent three yearly assessment of need for social housing was carried out by local authorities in March 2005. Returns were received in my Department over the summer and the overall date is being finalised and will be published very shortly.

The Government has made substantial progress addressing the concerns raised in the NESC report, with increased housing output levels and record investment in social and affordable housing measures. New measures have been announced to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing and to maximise the availability of land for social and affordable housing programmes. The Government indicated at that stage that the more medium-term issues highlighted by NESC, particularly in the social and affordable housing area, would be addressed later in the year.

The NESC report advocated a significant increase in the social housing stock and, by way of illustration, argued for a social housing stock of up to 200,000 units by 2012. NESC acknowledged, however, that the appropriateness of the overall scale of ambition and the urgency of actions would be clearer after the completion of the 2005 assessment of housing need. The Government's consideration of this matter will, therefore, be informed by the outcome of the statutory housing needs assessment, which is being finalised, and the work of the housing forum, which is reviewing the effectiveness of the existing social and affordable housing schemes in the context of the Sustaining Progress agreement. I anticipate the announcement of a new statement of housing policy at the end of this year.

I am confident we have put in place a number of new arrangements to facilitate the delivery of strong programmes of social and affordable housing. In consultation with my Department, local authorities have developed five-year action plans for their social and affordable housing programmes covering the period to 2008. The preparation of these plans has improved the identification of priority needs and will help to ensure a more coherent and co-ordinated response across all housing services. They also provided an overview of delivery by a range of providers, including local authorities, voluntary and co-operative housing bodies and the private sector, through Part V and public private partnership arrangements.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

It is important also to maintain a focus on delivery. We have been expanding on the level of social and affordable housing output in recent years, and local authorities have been ambitious in terms of the level of output planned in the housing actions plans to 2008. A total of €2 billion is being made available for housing programmes in 2005 to further increase the output of social and affordable housing. It is anticipated the needs of in excess of 13,000 households will be met through various social and affordable housing measures in 2005.

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