Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There is a large number of questions there. On the provisions under the NDP, the cross-departmental team and officials in various Departments deal with these issues on an ongoing basis. All the issues raised by the Deputy are included in that.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has estimated that the housing needs of 140,000 households are to be met through the housing programme of the NDP. Investment under the housing programme will total €21 billion, €18 billion of which is in direct housing provision, including the rent supplement issue. That covers different sub-programmes, including social housing provision and renewal, affordable housing and targeting of housing supports. The housing sub-programme allocation will fund the provision of 60,000 new units over the period of the plan.

The financial framework in the affordable housing and targeted private housing sub-programme will result in 40,000 households benefiting from affordable housing. It is estimated a further 40,000 households will be assisted mainly by availing of vacancies in existing stock and through households transferring to the rental accommodation scheme from rent supplement under the contractual arrangements. Every year under the plan large amounts of investment are being put in. There is effective use of the resources which stand, as I said, at €18 billion. There is a new scheme to support social housing tenants seeking home ownership, the incremental purchase scheme for the sale of flats and the reformed grant scheme to adapt housing to meet the needs of older people or those with disability. Resources are provided to sustain the communities fund to support regeneration processes and tackle anti-social behaviour and there is new legislation to support the social housing reform programme and the use of land. On the quality of social housing stock, almost €2 billion is to be spent on housing renewal and sustainable community planning.

On Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, the Deputy will recall the arguments and debates on that and the pressure from all sides in this House to do something about it. From the position six years ago, when just 46 homes were delivered, output has continued apace. Last year 1,007 affordable homes and 531 social homes were delivered during the first nine months under Part V. During the last quarter of the year it is expected a significant number of the 6,000 units under construction will be completed, surpassing the previous year's total. On predictions of future output under Part V, all the planning systems that have gone out of the system are necessarily subject to uncertain variables but include the volume of housing development and planning permissions granted. More than 5,400 homes were in progress at the end of September and 2,600 further homes are proposed under Part V. The situation has changed. Developers have transferred 99 acres of land to local authorities under Part V and 388 partially or fully serviced sites have been transferred to local authorities. Just under €80 million has been paid in lieu of land. Considerable development has happened under Part V, all of which has been helpful and progressive.

On the 40,000 supposedly vacant apartments, I saw the report and I asked the officials about it; some developers and builders said it was the reason housing numbers would drop this year and some said as many as 100,000 houses lie vacant. I have asked that this be examined. The calculations included summer houses, which are not occupied in the winter, and flats or apartments used by students in college in Dublin, who are not there all the time. Therefore that figure is nonsense. I asked for the best estimate on the Dublin figure and the national figure and people were slow to give me a figure. They said that if they took in everything they could see, it could perhaps be 20,000 nationally, but they would not stand over that figure.

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