Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of applicants for local authority housing and for other forms of social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7456/07]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the new means of assessing housing needs envisaged in Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7401/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 576: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of persons on housing lists in various local authorities throughout the country; his proposals to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7740/07]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 184 and 576 together.

There are a number of social housing options available to households who cannot meet their own accommodation needs. The main options are social rented accommodation provided by local authorities, by voluntary and co-operative housing bodies or under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).

A statutory assessment of housing need is undertaken by local authorities on a triennial basis. The most recent assessment of need for social housing was undertaken by local authorities in March 2005. The results of that assessment indicated that there were 43,684 households on local authority housing waiting lists. More comprehensive data in relation to the 2005 assessment at an individual local authority level was published in the Annual Bulletin of Housing Statistics, a copy of which is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie.

My Department does not have figures on the number of applicants for voluntary or community housing; however, some 75% of householders accommodation by this sector are taken from local authority waiting lists.

RAS caters for the accommodation needs of households in receipt of rent supplement who have a long-term housing need. The target group for RAS is the number of households on rent supplement for more than 18 months. The target national figure, for the end of 2006, is 31,959 households. There is, however, a significant overlap between households in receipt of rent supplement and those on local authority waiting lists.

An objective and comprehensive assessment of a person or family's housing need is an essential first step in putting in place a modern system of housing supports. As part of the social housing reform programme outlined in Delivering Homes; Sustaining Communities, a new means of assessment is being developed to provide an improved basis for policy development and service delivery. This new means of assessment has been the subject of consultation with local authorities through the CCMA and the social partners through the Housing Forum and is currently being discussed with relevant special needs groups. The key components of the new approach include:

an objective set of criteria to enable local authorities to assess need for housing support;

a rigorous but fair and consistent approach to means testing;

early assessment by housing authorities to build up individual case histories of requirements and support responses; and

maintenance of a record of household preferences to reflect as far as possible individual choice.

The total Exchequer provision for housing in 2007 is almost €1.5 billion — an increase of 9% on the 2006 provision. Specifically, resources available this year will allow for over 6,600 local authority houses to be started/acquired; some 2,000 starts by the voluntary and co-operative housing sector and continuing implementation of the Rental Accommodation Scheme. In addition, NDP 2007-2013 announced a €18 billion investment programme in housing over the next seven years. This programme sets targets of 60,000 new units of social housing together with some 40,000 affordable homes to be delivered over the Plan period.