Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to address some of the issues raised during the course of this debate. We heard much from the Opposition yesterday about the plight of first-time buyers. I reassure the House that access to affordable housing for first-time buyers remains a core objective of the Government's housing policy. This objective is being supported by record levels of housing; one in three of all homes in Ireland was built in the last ten years.

Significant numbers have benefited under an expanding range of affordable housing schemes. Other general measures are in place through the tax system to assist first-time buyers, such as stamp duty concessions and mortgage interest relief. We have evidence too of strong activity by first-time buyers in the market. It is estimated that 45% of new house loans in 2005 were taken out by first-time buyers. The average age of first-time buyers in 2005 was 30 years. This compares with a corresponding average age in the United Kingdom of 34 years.

The Government will continue to prioritise effective action to maintain current high levels of supply in the housing market and, in particular, will accelerate measures to assist those who cannot access affordable housing without assistance. This will include evolving polices to meet changing circumstances. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Noel Ahern, yesterday highlighted the new innovations in housing policy introduced by this Government. One of these is the ground-breaking legislation that is Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2006. Output under Part V is gathering momentum. Instead of welcoming this, however, the current debate is based on misleading information about the potential yield.

Several Deputies argued for the use of State land for affordable housing. I remind them that the Government has already assigned lands for this purpose and, furthermore, has successfully used land swaps to turn some two acres of State land into almost 500 discounted affordable homes. We have done so in a relatively short space of time, with some 400 of the homes coming on stream this year and the balance following in 2007.

A further innovation is the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. I acknowledge the welcome given by the Opposition yesterday to this scheme. Good progress has been made in implementing RAS, and nearly all housing authorities have begun to transfer cases to the scheme. It is projected that by the end of 2006, between 4,500 to 5,000 households with a long-term housing need will have transferred from rent supplement to accommodation provided by local authorities, either to RAS, or some other type of social housing.

We are providing the resources and evolving policies in line with principles set down in the housing policy framework, Building Sustainable Communities, published in December 2005. The framework firmly sets the housing policy objective of enabling every household to have available an affordable dwelling of good quality, suited to its needs and, as far as possible, at the tenure of its choice, in the broader context of building sustainable communities. Our approach has been endorsed by the social partners in Towards 2016. Record levels of funding have once again been provided for social and affordable housing programmes, and benefits will be seen in terms of outputs in 2007 and beyond.

At a time of phenomenal change for the housing sector, the Government is delivering on housing. We are not complacent about the future, however, and are determined to maintain our record of achievement in this vital area.

See this speech in context