Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Finance if, in view of recent predictions on significantly reduced housing completions for 2008 and 2009, he will be revising his current Budget forecasts for these years. [22310/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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On Budget Day, my Department forecast that housing completions for 2008 would ease to around 55,000 units. This easing in the level of completions was broadly in line with market consensus forecasts.

However, as evidenced by the weaker conditions in the opening months of this year there has been a sharper than expected slowdown in the house building sector. The current market consensus is for completions in the region of 45 — 50,000 housing units this year and stabilising around this level next year. As is normal practice, my Department will publish revised four year macro-economic and fiscal forecasts in the Pre-Budget Outlook in the Autumn.