Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On foot of a question I tabled recently to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, in regard to the number of approvals last year I was directed to refer to the Department's website, which I did. According to the information on the website there were 3,366 approvals, and since January 2015 there have been 2,700 approvals in respect of local authorities and 590 in respect of approved housing bodies. In regard to the commitment to construction this year, it is estimated that approximately 2,700 local authority units will be constructed this year, which means there is a gap of 600 given only 300 units were constructed last year. In terms of the ramping up of construction to meet demand and of allowing local authorities to be the main provider in terms of addressing the supply deficit, the aforementioned data does not indicate that this is happening. We would expect to see more units built this year. Perhaps the Minister would comment on why in terms of construction we are relying this year on approvals since 2015.

See this speech in context