Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will estimate the number of social housing units that will be provided in 2009; and the plan he has to make up the shortfall on the national development plan commitment of 27,000 per year since 2007. [43081/08]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will confirm that he will not be in a position to meet the national development plan social housing target for 2009 in view of his Department's ongoing failure to meet its own NDP social housing commitments, the 9% cut in real terms in the overall housing budget for 2009, and the 7% cut in real terms in his Department's social housing budget for 2009. [43080/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 21 together.

I wish to clarify the position in relation to the targets for social housing and the actual delivery achieved as there seems to be some confusion in this regard. The commitment entered into by the Government under the social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, was to achieve 27,000 social housing "starts" over the three year period 2007 to 2009 as a whole, not 27,000 in each of the three years. In terms of delivery, we set out to reach the first one third of this 27,000 unit target — or 9,000 "starts" — in 2007, the first of the three years in the target period. By end-2007, we had exceeded this target, with a total of 9,061 "starts" achieved across the local authority and voluntary and co-operative housing programmes and the Rental Accommodation Scheme.

All the indications available to us at this stage would suggest that 2008 will be another year of significant delivery under the main housing programmes. Our target is to achieve a further 9,000 social housing "starts" this year and we should have a clear picture of the full year delivery for 2008 towards the end of the first quarter of next year. Looking to the future, the results of the 2008 Housing Needs Assessment to be finalised shortly will show a significant increase in overall net housing need, against a background of a significantly more constrained fiscal environment. While the €1.54 billion in funding provided for social housing in the 2009 Estimates is some 1.7% less than in 2008, account must be 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.

The €1.54 billion provision for next year represents a very significant commitment on the part of the Government — equivalent to some €4.2m per day — and will allow us to maintain strong momentum towards meeting the 27,000 target for the 2007 to 2009 period as a whole. Our ultimate performance versus the target will be dependent on the extent to which we make optimum use of the available funds in meeting housing need. One option that my Department will be pursing with local authorities will be the use of long term lease arrangements for social housing purposes, to supplement the more traditional methods of delivery. 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.