Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

It sets out housing policy firmly in the broader context of building sustainable communities and was launched last December with a package of increased resources for housing programmes. There is an extraordinary similarity between many of the issues raised by the Labour Party and the contents of our framework document.

In developing this agenda, we have sought to build wide support for the approach among stakeholders. I welcome the fact that the new policy has been endorsed by the social partners in Towards 2016 and that the Labour Party endorses our approach and has picked up on many of the elements of our statement in its policy document. However, it has also included proposals that seem more aspirational than practical or achievable. I am sure Deputies agree that policies are worthless if they are not viable.

I will highlight the broad context of the announcement of the new housing policy framework last year. In 2004, the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, prepared an important report on housing in which it referred to the dynamic nature of the Irish housing sector, which has responded to the unprecedented growth in incomes and employment, and a range of demographic factors, with some 90,000 new homes to be built this year compared to less than 34,000 in 1996. Earlier in that decade, the figure was just over 20,000.

This situation did not arise without Government action. The large growth in housing supply by both historical and international standards resulted from the Government's reform of the planning regime, investment in the servicing of land and the promotion of policies to ensure more effective use of land. The Government has had a clear policy objective of increasing supply to meet demand, promoting access to housing by first-time buyers and assisting those who cannot meet their accommodation needs through the housing market.

Within this framework, our policies have been flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. Indeed, NESC referred in particular to the dynamism of policy development in recent years. We have been innovative in our responses including reforming the planning regime in 2000; introducing Part V provisions to improve social integration and to provide new delivery mechanisms for social and affordable housing; modernising the private rented sector through the passage of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to expand choice of tenure; introducing new affordable housing schemes to meet new demands in this area; using previously underutilised State lands for housing purposes, including via land swaps; and establishing the affordable homes partnership to drive the delivery of affordable housing in the greater Dublin area and developing the rental accommodation scheme as a new social housing option for households on rent supplement. All of this has taken place alongside a significant increase in investment in housing.

The needs of some 13,000 households were addressed through social and affordable housing measures in 2005 compared to approximately 8,500 in 2000. We are building on our achievements and experience to respond to housing need in a sustainable way. When the Labour Party does not copy our policies and actions in its proposed programme, it promises options that will not produce housing in the short term even if it were possible to see the party's suggestions through.

In the housing policy framework, the Government has reiterated its firm belief that home ownership should be available to as many people as possible where this is their preferred option. We have substantially increased these opportunities. For example, in 1997, the shared ownership and mortgage allowance schemes were the only affordable housing options available. In 2005, more than 900 households accessed housing through these options and an additional 2,000 households benefited in 2005 from the new schemes introduced by the Government.

Local authorities are delivering additional affordable housing options by building on their lands or State land and acquiring units through Part V arrangements. We have committed to a greater streamlining of these schemes and this work is now in hand. Considerable progress has been made by the affordable homes partnership in developing and implementing innovative approaches, such as land swaps and calls for additional land for social and affordable housing. We should hear from the partnership on its work in that regard shortly.

The momentum of delivery is growing and we expect to deliver some 17,000 affordable homes between 2007 and 2009. This is a considerable commitment to meeting the needs of first-time buyers who find themselves priced out of the market. It is part of a wider policy that seeks to improve access by boosting supply. We have ensured that our tax regime is favourable to first-time buyers by adjusting mortgage interest relief and stamp duty.

The commitment to improving access to home ownership must encompass not only affordable housing options, but paths from social housing. While it is legitimate to address the home ownership aspirations of tenants of social housing, we need a balanced approach. We must seek to achieve a range of different ways to provide social housing that offer better choices and quality of accommodation to tenants and that respond to how needs change during the life cycle.

Taking all of these aspects together, we have committed to enhancing paths to home ownership in the context of both the framework and Towards 2016. We have indicated that this will include shared equity schemes and the sale of flats under certain conditions. We are working on the detailed schemes, including the supporting legislative provisions. They will be brought to Government shortly.

Where property is owned by others, we cannot simply announce schemes and mislead tenants. We must respect the legal framework set down in the Constitution and advance by consultation. Therefore, we are in discussions with the voluntary and co-operative sector to determine how the home ownership aspirations of new tenants in that sector can be best addressed. I await with interest the details of the Labour Party proposal, which seems to involve forcing private sector landlords to sell to their tenants.

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