Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 590: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that he and his Department have given approval to Kildare County Council and other local authorities to charge €20,000 per site to qualified applicants for private sites and impose a clawback, allow no reduction in cases where no off-street car parking is available, in contrast with the cost of housing sites to Respond which he has also approved and where no clawback applies; the method whereby the capital funding for the construction of Respond housing schemes has been approved by his Department; the details of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13383/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The level of low cost site subsidy provided by the Department for a local authority under the low cost site scheme varies from location to location depending on factors, including the acquisition and development costs of the sites. The price at which the local authority intends to sell such sites to housing applicants is a matter to be determined by individual local authorities. The sale of such sites to individuals is subject to phased clawback arrangements designed to prevent short-term profiteering by owners of subsidised sites.

The clawback arrangements do not apply to sites provided under the scheme to voluntary, co-operative and other non-profit housing groups as houses constructed by these bodies are not provided for sale. I refer to the reply to Question No. 275 of 30 March 2006 which details the capital funding available from the Department to voluntary bodies to construct houses.