Michael Brennan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, to the House and I congratulate him on his work in the housing offices of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The Government can stand proudly over its performance since it came to power in 1997. In 1998 the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act introduced reforms which transformed financing from central government by providing a buoyant source of income to local authority funds. Since its establishment, €208 million more than the level required by indexation has been provided by the Government. In 2003 general purposes allocations of over €626 million have been made from this fund. In 2004 the figure will be €752 million. This transfer to local authorities is unprecedented. General purpose grants to local authorities have increased by 85% since 1997. The fund also provided €394 million towards non-national roads in 2003, a doubling of such grants from 1997 to 2003. This was a fine achievement by the Government.

Exchequer capital spending on local authority and social housing in 1997 was €214 million. In 2004, similar supports will amount to €930 million. Taking inflation into consideration over this period, the increase in funding is dramatic. The Government's success in increasing supply is reflected in eight consecutive years of house completions. From 1997 to 2003, some 280,000 houses were built nationally. That is a big change from the time when Senator Bannon's party was last in Government, when builders were closing daily until Fine Gael fell from power.

We will meet the challenge of providing the 500,000 dwellings required from 2002 to 2010. We will invest in infrastructure to bring more serviced land into use. These policies will combine with expansion of affordable housing schemes and the development of the voluntary housing sector. The total housing provision in 2003 is €1.8 billion, four times the amount provided in 1997. From 2000 to 2003, €5.9 billion has been provided for housing.

The Government will maintain a high level of house supply to meet the strong demand and in this way seek control of increased prices. Affordability is the key. From 2000 to 2002, some €3.08 billion, which is 109% of the national development plan forecast for social and affordable housing measures, has been spent by the Government in this area.

The Government has increased the total housing provision for 2004 by 5.5%, bringing it to €1,885 million despite pressures on public finances. The 2004 provisions will allow 5,000 housing starts under the main local authority programme, an increase of 500 from the 2003 level. A further 500 units will commence under the area regeneration programme. Together with the voluntary and co-operative housing sector, this will allow for the needs of about 12,500 households to be met in terms of social and affordable housing measures over the period of the housing programme, compared to 8,500 in 1998.