Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the actions he is taking to curb house price increases and to address the fact that increasing numbers of first-time buyers, in particular, continue to fall below the housing affordability threshold. [16670/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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House price increases have been driven primarily by the increase in demand for housing that has resulted from the unprecedented growth in recent years in the population and the economy. In response, the Government has taken action on a wide front to maximise access to home ownership, especially through measures to promote adequate supply of housing to meet demand.

Investment in infrastructure, streamlining of planning and more effective use of land have been co-ordinated to produce record housing output. Almost 81,000 houses were built in 2005; ten years ago, the figure was under 31,000. As a result, we are providing new homes at a much faster rate than other countries in Europe, with about 20 new homes produced annually per 1,000 population compared with five per 1,000 on average in the European Union.

Almost one third of all Irish homes were built in the past ten years. These, along with the delivery of more than half a million new homes since 1997, have enabled an unprecedented number of first-time buyers to access home ownership during this period. I am especially pleased that supply in Dublin has increased significantly, with 18,000 new homes completed last year, double the output of ten years ago.

We have also supported first-time buyers through improvements in tax reliefs and stamp duty. A number of concerted measures have been taken through the Government's social and affordable housing programmes to increase the availability of affordable housing. Investment of some €4 billion will be made under these programmes over the next three years. Approximately 15,000 households will benefit under affordable housing schemes over that period. In addition, in 2005 the Government established the affordable homes partnership to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing in the greater Dublin area where the problems are the most acute.

These measures form an important element of our policy to address affordability concerns. In December 2005 the Government launched a new housing policy framework, Building Sustainable Communities, to build on achievements and to focus delivery and increased investment over the coming years. This will ensure that we can improve the quality of housing and neighbourhoods, continue to create conditions where housing output will meet demand and provide targeted support for those with particular affordability problems.

The large increase in housing output that has been achieved has helped to restrain house price increases in the face of continuing strong demand pressures and increased mortgage lending.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I got that same reply from the Minister of State approximately 12 months ago and it is the same reply he gave four years ago. He has not answered my question which asked what he is doing to curb house price rises. I do not want to know, nor did I ask, how many houses were built last year. I did not ask him how many affordable houses were built, but he gave me those statistics.

What is the Minister of State doing to curb house price increases? When Fianna Fáil came into power in 1997, the price of an average house in this State was approximately €100,000. House prices are now more than €280,000 State wide or approximately €380,000 in this city. Is the Minister aware that communities throughout this city are being decimated by the huge movement of young people who cannot afford to buy houses in this city to places as far away as Cavan and Monaghan? He is doing nothing about it. Does the Minister accept there is an affordability problem? Does he accept that his constituents face that problem every day? They cannot buy houses because of the rapid rate of increase — 3.5% in the first three months of this year alone. He has not told me what he will do about it. I believe he is not doing anything. Will the Minister answer those questions?

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's main question was what we were doing to control prices. We are trying to encourage supply because with the current situation that is the only real solution. We are talking about a situation where 70,000 extra people came to this country last year. A total of 90,000 extra people were at work last year. We would not see that in a country 20 times the size of Ireland, not to mind anywhere else.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has not said what he intends to do about it.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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We are trying to encourage supply.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That will never be the answer. We will have to wait a lifetime or another nine years, if that is the Minister's answer.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am trying to answer. We are improving the planning regime, investing in serviced land and providing the conditions that have enabled more than half a million houses to be built in the past ten years.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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House prices are rocketing.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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We have provided tax relief on stamp duty for first-time buyers, brought forward Part V——

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister should ask the people on the doorsteps in his constituency what is happening.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I know, but the Deputy asked the question and I am trying to answer it. There is an affordability problem for some people and for those, we have brought in the four different affordable housing schemes that produced 2,900 houses last year. I do not want to say in simple terms that price does not count.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is the tip of the iceberg.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Deputy listen? We provided 2,900 affordable homes last year and that figure will increase.

There is an affordability problem for some people and that is difficult because the——

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Did the Minister say "for some people"? Professional couples on two incomes cannot afford to buy now.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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For those we built 2,900 affordable houses last year. The Deputy might have seen some of them advertised two weeks ago. Two bedroom houses were €142,000 and three bedroom houses were €172,000.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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And 40 year mortgages.

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Not for those, but there is a problem for some people and we are helping them because we do not want them to go back on the social housing list. That is the reason for the affordable housing scheme.

On price, it is more about affordability than price. In terms of affordability there is the price of the house, the salary of the person, the take-home pay and the interest rate. If we consider the affordable indexes, which are not a perfect animal, the position is not nearly as bad as the price——

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister got the solutions long ago from the constitution committee but he would not even push that. The Minister should make the people at Cabinet sit up and take note.