John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 642: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the funding drawn down to date by Kilkenny Borough Council for the regeneration and refurbishment scheme (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if work on the 26 houses which was to commence under the scheme in April 2005 had started and the cost of same; if he has been given a timeframe for completion of the scheme; if Kilkenny Borough Council has breached the minimum standard set by his Department to which local authority accommodation will be maintained; if a progress report on the overall costs is available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30553/05]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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A total of €1.1 million in capital funding has been provided to date to Kilkenny Borough Council for refurbishment work to houses in Ossory Park. My Department understands that work to 15 houses has been completed with work to a further four houses due for completion shortly. The next phase of the refurbishment involves the redevelopment of part of Ossory Park known as Lower Street. It is understood that the borough council is finalising its proposals for this phase following consultation with the residents. According to the borough council, the proposed works will include external works to a number of houses, environmental works and the demolition of some houses coupled with the construction of a number of new houses. The borough council intends to seek the necessary planning approval for this next phase before the end of 2005. It is not possible at this stage to indicate when construction work would commence on this phase of refurbishment. The borough council is also considering outline proposals for the redevelopment of the Top Street area but no details are available in the Department of the extent of proposed works. The management and maintenance of local authority rented dwellings is a matter for individual local authorities.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 644: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of expected house completions on a county basis in 2005; the number which will be directly built by local authorities; the number which will be delivered by the voluntary sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30565/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 673: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of local authority houses built and allocated to tenants in County Kildare to date in 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30627/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 678: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of houses built and allocated by each local authority in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30632/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 679: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is disappointed at the poor performance in respect of the public housing programme, in view of the number of applicants on local authority housing lists which have not diminished; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30633/05]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 644, 673, 678 and 679 together.

Detailed information on the number of local authority houses completed or acquired in 2004 and for the first six months of 2005 is available in the quarterly and annual housing statistics bulletins published by my Department, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and on the Department's website at www.environ.ie. It is anticipated local authorities will complete or acquire approximately 5,500 units in 2005 including completions under various regeneration programmes. It is also expected the voluntary sector will complete 1,600 units in 2005. Detailed information on an individual local authority basis will be available in due course in the 2005 annual housing statistics bulletin.

The number of houses completed or acquired by the three local authorities in County Kildare for the first six months of 2005 is set out in the following table:

These figures for Kildare local authorities do not include casual vacancies which arise from time to time and are let to households on the waiting lists. In addition, 357 housing units were under construction by both the Kildare local authorities and voluntary bodies at the end of June.

I am confident the Government has put in place a number of new arrangements to facilitate the delivery of strong programmes of social and affordable housing. In consultation with my Department, local authorities have developed five-year action plans for their social and affordable housing programmes covering the period to 2008. The preparation of these plans has improved the identification of priority needs and will help to ensure a more coherent and co-ordinated response across all housing services. They also provided an overview of delivery by a range of providers — local authorities, voluntary and co-operative housing bodies and the private sector, through Part V and public private partnership arrangements.

A total of €2 billion is being made available for housing programmes in 2005 to further increase the output of social and affordable housing. It is anticipated that total social housing provision in 2005, including new local authority housing, vacancies arising in existing houses and output under other social housing measures, will meet the needs of in excess of 13,000 households.