Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this matter, to which I will be replying on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley.

The background to the annual round of housing allocations is the steady increase in the size of the social housing investment programme. Substantial investment has been made in social housing in recent years. The range of programmes has broadened, with more households being offered a wider range of housing options. Delivery methods have also diversified, with the growth in voluntary and co-operative housing and with innovative arrangements being applied to promote tenure diversity through public private partnerships and major regeneration schemes. New housing is also coming on stream through Part V agreements and the new rental accommodation scheme, RAS.

During the period 2007 to 2009, 27,000 new homes will be commenced or acquired for those in need of social housing, through a combination of measures including local authority, voluntary and co-operative housing and RAS accommodation under long-term contracts. The Government allocated in excess of €926 million in 2007 for this purpose. The resources being made available under the national development plan will allow for similar levels of activity after 2009.

Housing authorities will be the primary agents for the delivery of social housing with 20,000 new housing starts projected for the 2007 to 2009 period. This level of activity naturally will place significant demands on housing authorities. The evidence in 2007, however, is that performance on the social housing programme is at its strongest point this decade.

Officials of the Minister's Department met representatives of housing authorities last October to review their housing action plans. These meetings brought together all the housing authorities within a county area with the aim of ensuring an integrated approach to delivering their programmes. With individual households often applying for housing support to different authorities within an area, in light of the fact that housing solutions frequently address the concerns of more than one authority and given the need for authorities to make best use of local resources in the design, planning and management of projects, it is clear that authorities cannot and should not act in isolation.

In so far as this relates to allocations, it is the Minister's intention to provide county and city councils as early as possible in 2008 with an indication of the general level of Exchequer funding which will be available over the next three years for the main housing investment programme. This will take into account a number of factors, including existing commitments, the state of housing programmes and, in particular, housing need. This is the first stage of a process of consultation and negotiation with housing authorities to arrive at an equitable distribution of funding for the 2008 to 2010 period.

County councils will be expected to co-ordinate the planning for the various housing programmes for their county areas in co-operation with the housing authorities within their areas and in some cases with adjoining counties. The Department will then meet and discuss these plans with each housing authority, including town and borough councils, as part of the housing action plan review process. It is expected that capital allocations for 2008 for each housing authority will be formally announced by the end of the first quarter of next year. As is the normal practice, allocations will be made directly to city, county, borough and town councils.

The Minister is conscious that over time the management and integration of various housing programmes has become more complex and some pooling of resources at a county level is required to improve planning and to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of projects. Against this background and in the context of developing further the multi-annual financial framework for housing investment programmes, the Minister is examining ways to provide more flexibility in the management of the investment programmes.

The successful delivery of housing investment programmes depends on housing authorities, including the town and borough councils. In this context, the aim is to strengthen the capabilities of all housing authorities to enable them to better deliver housing services at local level in an integrated and effective manner.