Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of local authority housing starts for 2006, 2007 and to date in 2008; his projections of local authority housing starts for the rest of 2008 and for 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14406/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, and the National Development Plan 2007-2013 reflect the strong commitment to expand social housing provision contained in the social partnership agreement Towards 2016. Under the social partnership agreement, local authorities are to deliver 21,000 social housing starts over the period 2007-09.

Good progress was made towards achieving this target with approximately 6,850 homes commenced, purchased or acquired under long-term lease in 2007. This is a 12% increase on the figure of 6,161 housing starts achieved in 2006. Full details on the output figures for social and affordable housing for 2007 will be published shortly in my Department's annual housing statistics bulletin. Data for the first quarter of 2008 are not yet available.

The Exchequer provision for social housing for 2008 and 2009 is expected to allow for a further 14,000 starts in this period. Housing allocations will be announced in the near future for all housing authorities and a better picture of the number of starts likely in 2008 will be available when authorities receive their allocations and are able to finalise their work programme for the year.

Taking all Exchequer and non-Exchequer resources into account, the total provision this year for social housing will be almost €2.5 billion. This represents an increase of 16% on the 2007 figure. These resources will ensure that further substantial progress will be made towards achievement of the target of meeting the needs of some 60,000 households over the period of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 through the range of social housing measures in place, including direct local authority provision, the use of Part V agreements, voluntary and co-operative housing and units provided under the rental accommodation scheme.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State outlined a very rosy picture as regards matters relating to housing, particularly when he is aware that many local authorities will not engage in any new housing starts during the current year and will merely be asked to complete those that are already under construction. There will not be any new initiatives. My local authority was directed by the Department to commence two schemes in 2007 but it has now been told not to do so. If these schemes had proceeded, a further 32 houses would have been built in the two communities to which they relate. Cutbacks are taking place.

Will the Minister of State accept responsibility for the fact that Dublin City Council will this week close down its affordable housing list? Last year, only 260 affordable houses were provided and the number of houses built has plummeted from a figure of 722 in 2005. Will the Minister of State acknowledge that there has been a major reduction in the number of housing starts in the public sector this year? Is he contemplating introducing any new initiatives to assist first-time buyers who are particularly interested in getting their feet on the property ladder?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not envisage that there will be any cutbacks. If one considers the allocation for this year, while we are investing €1.7 billion, an increase of 16% on the 2006 figure, the HFA and other agencies will also invest €800 million. As a result, the total spend in the social housing market will be €2.5 billion.

On our achievements to date, in 2006 the total figure for house completions was 93,000. Of these, some 6,361 were in the social housing sector. In 2007, even though the market was constrained to some degree, there were still 7,400 completions. In the area of affordable housing, the number of completions was 3,600. We believe we attained our target of 9,000 social housing completions at the end of 2007.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State should be aware that a commitment was given in 2016 that 60,000 new houses would be built between 2007 and 2009. The Government does not have a hope of fulfilling that commitment on the basis of what he has just stated. Does the Minister of State agree that the number of housing starts for 2008 has been dramatically reduced and that the rental subsidy scheme is a shambles? Responsibility for the latter was supposed to be transferred from the health authorities to the local authorities but in many areas this cannot be done because the necessary administrative systems are not in place.

Will the Minister of State indicate that action that will be taken to deal with the problem of the numbers on housing lists increasing? The Department's programmes are not working. Will the Minister of State say if he has new initiatives to take, particularly in respect of affordable housing schemes?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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It is expected that we will have resources available for the remainder of 2008 and for 2009 which will allow us to achieve the substantial target of 18,000 social housing starts. Having met our target in 2007, we have every reason to be confident that we can do so for the 2008 and 2009.

The Deputy inquired about affordable housing. I intend to have discussions with the Dublin city manager regarding applications for affordable housing, the number of people applying for such housing and the level of information required from applicants. It appears that some of those applying for affordable housing may not have the resources or capacity to meet their mortgage payments. I want to examine with the Dublin city manager the possibility of restructuring application forms in order to ensure additional information will be provided by applicants indicating, quite clearly, their capacity to meet the requirements of the affordable housing scheme.

I am considering introducing two new schemes. The first of these, which relates to affordable housing, is a new shared equity scheme to replace the current shared ownership scheme, which has not been operating successfully and which has gone downhill in recent years. This new scheme will provide people with an opportunity to enter home ownership and to realise the ambitions of many lower paid workers. I want to give local authority and social housing tenants a new opportunity by means of the incremental purchase scheme I intend to introduce. This will allow them to purchase as little as 30% of their homes in the future. The schemes to which I refer will be announced in due course.