Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 48: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the initiatives his Department will take on foot of the National Housing Conference; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13430/07]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Housing Conference, which was jointly organised by my Department and the RIAI, had as its central theme the Government's recently published housing policy statement Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities. The policy statement sets out a vision to guide the transformation of the Irish housing sector over the next ten years, by delivering more and better quality housing responses and by doing this in a more strategic way focused on the building of sustainable communities — as reflected in the agenda of the Conference. This approach responds to housing need in a way that improves choice and encourages individual responsibility within communities and delivers housing programmes more effectively.

The chief purpose of the Conference was to debate implementation issues which need to be addressed if we are to transform the Irish housing environment to meet the challenges ahead that are identified in the policy statement. The conference and associated study tours, demonstrated considerable evidence of integrated approaches being made to the delivery of housing and greater consciousness of quality in urban design. As part of the process, I launched new guidance on delivery entitled Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities. This is part of a suite of guidance which my Department will issue to drive this critical quality agenda.