Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

This scheme, which was introduced in February 2009, was extended to voluntary bodies in September 2009. It was appropriate that many local authorities concentrated on dealing with their own unsold affordable stock during the first period of the scheme, as we did not want national stock to be sitting idle while people remained on the social housing lists. We will have to accept that local authorities prioritised that area. There is a natural lead-in to any new scheme - everything does not take off immediately. It is worth mentioning that we were within a small number of units of meeting the target of 2,000 that was set for 2009. In addition, hundreds of applications are being processed at present.

I do not accept that it is inappropriate for affordable houses to be used as part of the long-term leasing scheme. It is appropriate to include in the scheme properties in which public money has been invested. Approximately 1,300 such units are available, which is not that many. As of October 2009, local authorities estimated that they had 3,100 affordable homes on hand. Some 1,300 of those homes have been approved by the Department for temporary use as social housing under the leasing programme, with a further 800 in the process of being sold. According to the local authorities, fewer than 1,000 available units are on their hands at present. It is worth recording that 1,300 houses were sold under the affordable housing scheme in 2009. There continues to be a significant take-up of the scheme.

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