Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 531: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount he has spent on the provision of affordable housing in each of the past ten years; the amount he will spend in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18502/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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My Department provides direct funding to local authorities for the provision of affordable housing under the 1999 Affordable Housing Scheme through the subsidisation of the site costs. A subsidy is available to local authorities to make houses affordable by covering all or part of the cost of the site so that the selling price of the unit is within the income range of the target group.

To further assist households with household income below €28,000 in the previous tax year, a mortgage subsidy or, as appropriate, a rental subsidy under the Shared Ownership Scheme is available to these purchasers. This subsidy is paid by my Department to the local authority who advanced the loan and is intended to reduce the monthly outgoings of the purchaser. A mortgage allowance of €11,450 spread over 5 years is also available to assist householders who are tenants or tenant purchasers of local authority houses to become owner-occupiers of other dwellings. Eligibility was extended to tenants of dwellings provided by approved voluntary housing bodies under the Capital Loan and Subsidy scheme, who return their accommodation to the body, thus making it available for re-letting.

Details of this expenditure by my Department is set out in the following table:

In addition, €24,835,263 and €24,924,737 was allocated in 2006 and in 2007 to the Affordable Homes Partnership (AHP) to fund the purchase of 502 homes on the private market, for subsequent sale to eligible affordable housing applicants at discounted prices. For 2008, my Department has set aside €71m for site subsidy and a further programme of affordable housing acquisitions by the AHP, €4.2m for Mortgage and Rental subsidy and €3.8m for Mortgage Allowance.

This direct funding by my Department represents only one element of the overall range of supports for the various affordable housing schemes. Significant support under the schemes is provided by way of non-voted capital expenditure. This allows local authorities to purchase the units and also provide mortgage finance, where necessary, by means of borrowing through the Housing Finance Agency. In addition, investment in affordable housing is also supported through the assignment of State lands for this purpose and through the delivery mechanism under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2006.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 532: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount spent on the provision of social housing in each of the past ten years; the amount he will spend in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18503/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Exchequer expenditure on the provision of local authority and voluntary & co-operative housing from 1997 to 2007 is set out in the table below:

The 2008 provision for these programmes is €1.2 billion and full details of the entire housing programme are set out in the Revised Estimates for the Public Services 2008 and the Public Capital Programme 2008.