Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the level of progress being made on social housing provision targets for 2015; the number of new social housing units that have been constructed to date; the number he expects will be constructed by the end 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38320/15]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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This question is related to Question No. 4. I am asking the Minister to outline the progress that has been made on the provision of social housing. I am not asking for the targets for 2020; I want to know exactly what has been achieved in 2015. The Minister referred earlier to there being a lag-time in construction projects, which I do not dispute. However, from 2007 to 2010, 14,000 houses were built, while, by contrast, between 2010 to 2014, 1,400 houses were constructed. Therein lies part of the problem.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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In April, we set social housing targets for each local authority out to 2017, along with provisional funding allocations, which will see an investment totalling €1.5 billion to meet an ambitious delivery target of some 22,900 social housing units. The investment will be in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes designed to accommodate more than 25% of those currently on local authority housing waiting lists. In line with those targets, the Minister and I kick-started a major social housing construction programme as part of announcements of new local authority and approved housing body projects in May and July of this year. These projects will see the delivery of more than 2,900 new housing units at a value of almost €0.5 billion, covering all 31 local authorities. We expect to be in a position to announce further approvals in the coming weeks.

Given the time lag between approval and delivery of construction projects, as we have discussed, the acquisition by local authorities of properties through turn-key developments and other purchases, as well as the remediation of vacant units or voids, are important components of social housing delivery this year. In 2014, we turned around more than 2,000 voids. The target for this year was 1,000, and we expect to exceed that substantially. We have called on local authorities to come forward with their voids programmes, for which they will receive the necessary funding. I cannot make it any clearer than that.

Provisional data, largely to the end of the third quarter of 2015, indicate that a total of 1,411 units have been delivered through my Department's capital programmes, including build schemes and acquisitions and through returning voids to productive use. A further 6,213 units have been delivered under the current expenditure programmes, namely, the social housing leasing initiative, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme.

Notwithstanding the pressures in accessing accommodation in the private market for social housing purposes, I am confident, on the basis of the progress already made and given the extent to which delivery is traditionally heavily concentrated in the latter part of the year, that the overall target of delivering some 15,900 units this year will be largely achieved. That figure includes the capital and current projects to which we have referred today.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier, the Minister of State indicated that 7,000 units would be delivered this year through the various methods.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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New units.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Now he is saying 15,000 will be built this year.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Correct.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Minister of State to take note of the information I am seeking. Will he quantify the number of new units that will be built in 2015? Will he indicate the number of units that will be purchased this year? Will he tell us the number of voids that will be restored by year end, and will he further indicate why he has set a lesser target for 2015 in this regard than was the case for 2014, even though there are still 3,000 units lying idle? Finally, will the Minister of State quantify the number of new leasing arrangements that will be in place by the end of the year? Changing from one scheme to another is not benefiting anybody; people are staying in the same accommodation but under a different scheme.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The first point to emphasise is that we are taking a multifaceted approach on this issue. As I outlined, huge progress has been made in addressing the problem of voids. We are working closely with the approved housing bodies, with additional approvals to be given in the coming weeks. The local authorities are engaging in direct build activities and getting back to constructing homes. As the Minister indicated, there are more than 200 sites under construction around the country. I will be visiting one of them next week, in Banagher, where eight houses are ready to be occupied. Other projects are at various stages of progress in locations throughout the State.

The data show that by the third quarter of this year, more than 1,400 units had been delivered under the capital programme, including the build schemes. In addition to that, we have acquisitions and void restorations, as well as the progress being made under the HAP scheme and the RAS. The overall target for delivery across the country this year is 15,900 units, which includes the provision under current and capital spending, public private partnerships and every scheme we can access to provide homes for those who need them. I assure the Deputy that this issue is being treated with the highest priority by the Government. We are lifting every stone that can be lifted to ensure people are accommodated. We are working with every collaborator, including the social housing bodies, the private sector and the local authority, to ensure we deliver as many units as possible.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the multifaceted nature of the approach to this issue. I am simply asking that the Minister of State give me the figures for units delivered under the various schemes. He is talking about a target of 15,000 units this year but, at the same time, he acknowledges that only 1,400 were delivered by the end of the third quarter. I ask again that he quantify how many houses have been delivered to date under the various schemes. If the figure at the end of quarter three was 1,400, how does he expect to bring the total up to 15,000 in one quarter, bearing in mind that only €39 million of the allocated funding that was announced has been drawn down to date? Is the Minister of State satisfied that his target, under the multifaceted approach he has outlined, will be achieved by the end of the fourth quarter? I do not see how it can be in the light of the figures we have been given this morning.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I repeat for the third time today that more than 7,500 units had been delivered by quarter three. We are now in quarter four. Funding has been allocated and the local authorities have been active in preparing their various plans for delivery, whether on voids, acquisitions or construction. We expect the final figure to be more than 15,000.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister of State quantify what has been done under the various schemes?

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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It is traditional that local authorities will work in the fourth quarter to spend their budget allocations. I agree that the targets we have set for them are ambitious. We expect them to be delivered because the local authorities are the housing authorities and the drivers of progress. They know where the need is and can prioritise the projects that are put forward to the Department. We are dependent on the local authorities to deliver on the ambitious targets we have given them and ensure the funding that has been allocated is used to accommodate the people on the housing list.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State did not answer my question.