Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Gilmore cites the figure 35,000, but I am not sure what period was covered by that figure. Was it over a ten-year or five-year period? If we take last year's output, overall housing output for the year was 81,000. Using rough figures that would apply any year, of that number approximately 20,000 would be one-off houses, 7,000 or 8,000 would be social, affordable or voluntary houses and approximately 40,000 were exempted because they were part of developments of fewer than four houses, built on unzoned land or built as part of planning permissions that were obtained and, perhaps, stockpiled before the introduction of Part V.

In time the stockpiles of old planning permissions will die out, probably over the next 18 months to two years, and we will have a better hold on the situation. Once-off housing and developments of fewer than four units will always exist. The output depends on what is built in the overall market, but in time output will improve. I agree it has been slow to develop, but this happens. There are no housing measures which will provide instant action. As the old planning permissions wither and die out, the output from Part V will increase significantly and have an input on social and affordable housing.

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