Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

The focus of housing expenditure is, therefore, to respond to the needs of these groups with special housing needs through a range of targeted initiatives. The provision was €38 million for this year.

In regard to the grant scheme the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, stated:

Grants have been a contributing factor in pushing up both house and land prices. It is clear now that the construction industry must reflect on today's developments when formulating house prices. Experience has shown that grants for house buyers has returned little benefit to consumers. They have simply been absorbed in the increased profits of builders.

The Department of the Environment and Local Government has increased its spending over the past five years. However, it is slightly down in the 2003 Estimate.

The Minister stressed that the new house grant scheme was not improving affordability. Many experts such as Colm McCarthy of DKM, Economic Consultants, the NESC and Peter Bacon in the Bacon report commented on this issue. As far back as 1993 the NESC expressed the view that grants are an inefficient and inequitable instrument to tackle housing needs.

I welcome in particular what the Minister said on the responsibility of builders. Many of us heard people speak on Marian Finucane's radio programme about the lack of information on the different housing estates. People could not even get information on the dimensions of the rooms in the houses or apartments for sale. This morning I heard the Minister talking about how builders could help if they, for example, furnished or partly furnished new developments.