Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Nobody can second-guess the number of housing projects that will commence in the private sector. However, as I indicated in reply to Deputy Cowen on an earlier question, there are now very strong signs of recovery in the housing market, given the number of housing projects getting off the ground and the number of commencements and planning permissions going through.

Even if we were to pursue the Deputy's solution, which is the direct build of local authority houses alone, there would still be a timelag in providing those units. What the Department has had to do is look across a wide range of measures to respond to this housing challenge. First, we looked at the voids and vacant housing stock which were unacceptably lying vacant. These are existing local authority houses in local authorities across the country. We have ring-fenced funding and provided allocations to local authorities, and we have asked them to prioritise this and to turn units around efficiently so they are put back to beneficial use as quickly as possible. Additional funding was provided to local authorities for this. Some 2,000 units were turned around last year and another 1,000 vacant units will be provided this year. We are also providing funds for direct acquisition to local authorities and voluntary housing bodies so they can buy houses in the interim period before the new projects are built.

We have green-lighted the shovel-ready projects the Deputy is speaking about and we have provided the funding to the local authorities. We cannot magic up more projects if the local authorities are not coming forward with them. In the meantime, we are making other provisions, such as the Part V provision. In the past five years, Part V has delivered literally nil units because private construction was not happening but we are now beginning to see it happening. We are removing the ability of people to substitute with cash. We will deliver units under this scheme and we are using every mechanism available to us because it is a priority for this Government.

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