John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the extent to which budget 2009 cuts are affecting social housing programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36513/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The total Exchequer provision for housing in 2009 will be almost €1.66 billion in current and capital funding. This represents a reduction of 4% on the record provision for 2008, which, it should be noted, was an increase of 16% on the 2007 estimate. By any measure, the 2009 funding is very significant — representing an average of over €4.5m per day in 2009 — and it is a clear signal of the continued priority attached by the Government to housing in general.

In line with my objective of prioritising the needs of the most vulnerable households, the significant proportion of the overall housing budget which is to be devoted to social housing programmes will be reduced by no more than 1.7%. In the circumstances, this is a good outcome, particularly when account is taken of the fact that we have relieved some of the pressure on the programme in 2009 by securing an additional €80m of investment, this year, under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme for voluntary housing projects.

Of course, in the context of a difficult economic transition, we must seek to maximise the return on public investment, as measured by the extent to which we are meeting housing needs. One option which my Department will be pursuing with local authorities over the coming months will be the use of long term lease arrangements for social housing purposes to supplement traditional local authority construction or acquisition. I believe that this would provide a more cost effective, targeted approach, in line with the principles of the life-cycle approach endorsed by the social partners.

We have made considerable progress in recent years on our social housing programmes and I am confident that the financial provision for housing for 2009 will enable us to maintain strong momentum towards meeting our commitments in Towards 2016 and our longer-term goals under the National Development Plan 2007-2013.