Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

Delivery of homes under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2006 is, necessarily, subject to a number of variables. These include the volume of housing development for which planning permission is granted, the finalisation of individual agreements between local authorities and developers, the timing of commencement and phasing of individual developments and the general level of activity within the sector itself.

Local authorities have been advised from the outset of Part V to conclude agreements with developers at the earliest possible stage to ensure that housing to be provided under agreements is delivered in a timely manner. Accordingly, most of the homes that are delivered this year under Part V will be as a result of agreements reached with developers up to 12 months ago, or longer in some cases, and should therefore not be impacted by the recent reduction in residential development activity generally.

While it is difficult to predict precisely the likely future output from Part V in any given period, particularly because of timing factors, I expect that Part V delivery this year will exceed the 3,246 homes delivered through this mechanism in 2007. It will, therefore, continue to play a significant part in achieving progress towards the ambitious targets for social housing and for the delivery of affordable homes set in the national social partnership agreement, Towards 2016. I expect that it will be later in 2009 before the recent reductions in overall housing output begin to impact on Part V delivery. In terms of planning for future delivery, consideration is being given to the enhancement of the existing affordable housing mechanisms by introducing a new affordable housing product based on an equity loan arrangement.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

An incremental purchase scheme, targeted at households with an income lower than that required for affordable housing, is also being advanced.

In terms of the broader social housing programme, a wide range of supply options are available to local authorities. Apart from Part V, these include design-build contracts, acquisitions, public private partnerships, turnkey projects and lease options under the rental accommodation scheme, as well as the traditional construction contracts tendered by authorities. The potential for new and innovative approaches to delivery and funding of housing programmes is kept under review by my Department on an ongoing basis.

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