Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 772: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of units of social housing which have been built on State land since 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27640/06]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Details in relation to the number of social houses built each year are set out in my Department's Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas library, and also on the Department's website at www.environ.ie. The majority of these units are built on land in the ownership of the local authority. Social housing units are now also being acquired by local authority from development through arrangements under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2004. The bulletins also provide information on activity by the voluntary and co-operative housing sector. Some of these developments would be on land provided by the local authority, but it is not possible to specify the extent of such arrangements.

A number of State lands have been identified as part of the Affordable Housing Initiative. While the primary objective is to deliver increased output of affordable housing on the State lands provided to the Affordable Housing Initiative, the development of the lands may also include a mix of private, social and voluntary and co-operative housing to ensure good integration of tenures. The exact mix is a matter for the relevant local authorities in developing the land, and I understand, for example, that the plan for the Clonakilty and former Magee Barracks (Kildare) sites envisage such a mix.