Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the proportion of the 12,500 hectares of zoned land owned by the various local authorities which is owned by the authorities in Dublin city and county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17724/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 170: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if it is true that all of the zoned or serviceable land in private hands in Dublin city and county are owned by no more than eight persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17725/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the total acreage of zoned land in the administrative areas of each of the local authorities in Dublin city and county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17726/05]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 to 171, inclusive, together.

The figure of 12,500 hectares represents the amount of serviced residential land nationally as at 30 June 2004 —owned both privately and publicly, which would give an estimated yield of 367,000 housing units. Details in regard to the amount of land zoned for housing in the State and in each local authority are available in my Department's housing statistics bulletin, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and also the Department's website at www.environ.ie.

My Department does not have a breakdown of the component of this supply which is in the ownership of local authorities. Some information was provided to the Department as part of the 2004 survey of land that is serviced and zoned for residential purposes but it is incomplete. My Department is examining means of acquiring reliable information as part of the 2005 survey. This analysis would only provide a point in time assessment, as variation could be expected from year to year as lands are developed, particularly for social and affordable housing schemes. The value of local authority lands is reflected in their assets registers which now form part of their annual accounts.

My Department does not have information on the ownership of private lands in the State. In a study commissioned by my Department in 2003, consultants examined, inter alia, the availability of zoned and serviced lands and building activity in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and Fingal. They identified five builder developers active in the former area and at least 15 significant builder developers active in the latter. The consultants referred to a separate published analysis of land ownership in Fingal, which identified 20 major landowners, with a total holding of 605 hectares, out of a total of 1,600 hectares of undeveloped zoned land in the county. They concluded that this analysis did not provide evidence of high levels of market concentration.

The Government has been focusing on measures to boost housing supply in response to demand. These measures are having success, with record output of some 77,000 homes in 2004. The availability of land that is serviced and zoned for residential purposes augurs well for future housing supply. Similarly in Dublin, output exceeded 16,800 units in 2004, up 80% on 2000 levels, and there were some 2,300 hectares of residentially zoned serviced land available last June to support future supply.