Results 3,801-3,820 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: We have not been involved in the housing aspect, but I will consider what the Deputy has said. However, I am reluctant because there is another side. I am unsure whether we can make progress on the matter by involving the housing departments of local authorities.

House Prices. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Housing and accommodation form one of the ten special initiatives under Sustaining Progress. Consequently, the Government already has an active engagement with the social partners on housing issues. The housing forum is the main mechanism for engaging with social partners on the initiative. Separate ongoing contact also takes place with the parties to the pay agreement in the context of...

House Prices. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I chair the housing forum involving the social partners. It has nothing on the agenda except housing. It is a special initiative and meets every quarter. No one simple solution to this issue exists without increased supply, which is why we have been working on that aspect for some years. Ten or 11 years ago only 22,000 to 23,000 houses were built annually. Last year the figure increased to...

House Prices. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I accept that the rise in house prices in recent years has caused difficulty for some people in a certain income bracket. This is the reason the Government introduced a number of targeted measures to provide affordable houses for this group, an objective we are achieving. A couple of thousand affordable houses are built each year and we expect the figure to increase to approximately 12,000...

House Prices. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Under the 1999 affordable housing scheme, buyers can obtain a local authority loan of up to 97% of the cost of a house. Until now, the State provided all loans for affordable housing but recently we concluded a deal with the Bank of Ireland under which it will offer up to 97% of the value of houses available as part of the four affordable schemes. I believe other financial institutions will...

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: At the end of 2004, it is estimated that the local authority housing stock amounted to 110,000 dwellings. The level of this stock continues to rise in line with the Government's increased investment in social housing measures. In the current year, the Government is allocating record levels of funding to local authorities for their social and affordable housing programmes. The total Exchequer...

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: At the last assessment, the figure on the waiting lists was not 55,000 but approximately 48,000. Approximately 32% of those families were single people and another 30% consisted of one adult plus one child, but we include them all as families, even if they are single people. The needs of approximately 13,000 of those 48,000 families are met each year. I am not suggesting that the number on...

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: No, it does not include transfers, it includes casual vacancies. The needs of approximately 13,000 people on the housing lists are met by the new houses that are built, voluntary housing schemes, casual lettings and affordable housing and other schemes.

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: It includes any scheme that permits people to come off the current waiting lists, but does not include transfers. It includes new lettings and meets people's housing needs.

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I thank the Deputy for his comments on the central heating scheme. It was introduced in the middle of last year. Of the 110,000 local authority houses I mentioned, approximately 45,000 do not have central heating. We introduced this scheme whereby the Department pays 80% and the local authority must provide 20%. It is up to the local authority to provide the money. We spent our allocation...

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: That report was issued at Christmas, is being worked on and will be considered by the Cabinet. We have seen the NESC recommendations. Obviously if the number of social housing units were to increase, output would need to increase considerably. We have some additional funds in 2005 and I believe we will be able to commence building 6,000 local authority houses this year. However, we await the...

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The Cabinet should decide soon.

Local Authority Housing. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I take the Deputy's point. Very little housing is built directly by local authorities. One or two counties build a small amount of social and affordable housing but the bulk is built by private developers. I imagine it is intended to increase the amount of social housing built over the coming years. The numbers that will be built remain to be seen as they depend on funding. The overall...

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The year 2004 was a further record year for house completions which totalled 76,954, an increase of 11.8% on 2003. Ireland is building at a rate of more than 19 houses per 1,000 persons, which is the highest rate within the European Union. Approximately 500,000 houses have been built over the last ten years, representing more than 30% of Irish housing stock. These figures demonstrate that the...

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: We do not have exact data on the number of holiday homes built. Different studies of this subject have been provided. There is no holiday home category as many might be investment properties but the ESRI carried out a recent study, in which it estimated that 12% of houses are either holiday homes or are empty. In this regard, the data has not been collected in raw form.

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: As I said, they are not only holiday homes but investments etc. Many people have done well for themselves in recent years.

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Many tax schemes that encourage people to buy are under review. We do not have raw data on the number of holiday homes. The number of local authority homes built each year is approximately 5,000. The voluntary sector has built many homes, numbering approximately 1,600 units in 2004 and 1,800 this year. In or around 60,000 people are in receipt of rent allowance, implying that many new houses...

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I do not have that information here. From a housing point of view it is not of great interest. If I remember correctly, there are some counties in the midlands and the west where 75% of older houses are one-off dwellings. This is the way people lived. I do not know if this trend and its figures have changed in recent years but in many counties 60% to 65% of existing houses are one-off houses,...

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The guidelines are under the planning section of the Department and are not my responsibility. I was tied up with business in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and was not at the press conference. If I had been, I am sure I would have all these figures at my fingertips. I understand the focus of the planning guidelines is not about increasing the supply of houses. It...

Housing Output. (13 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Perhaps the Deputy should submit a different question.