Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of new units of social and affordable housing he envisages being made available in 2010. [2327/10]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he plans to make it a priority to purchase properties that are vacant to increase the number of housing units available for social and affordable housing. [2329/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 28 together.

The Government's key priorities in shaping the overall housing provision for this year have been to focus the impact of necessary adjustments on the areas in which there is scope to maintain output through more flexible approaches and where the policy context supports such approaches, and to continue to direct available capital resources substantially towards the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. In keeping with this strategy, the reform programme, now well underway in my Department, involves a shift away from construction/acquisition and a one size fits all approach to meeting social housing needs towards a more graduated system of supports. This refocusing, in policy and financial terms, is rooted in the clearly articulated rationale set out in the Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities.

While the allocations for 2010, when finalised, will show a reduction in the provision for the main traditional local authority programme, I anticipate that, through more flexible market based delivery mechanisms such as the Rental Accommodation Scheme and long term leasing, as well as the significant increase in funding available under the Capital Assistance Scheme in 2010, delivery across the range of social housing measures this year will be of the order of 8,000/9,000 units.

In relation to affordable housing, rather than setting targets for delivery, the emphasis this year, having regard to developments in the housing market, will be on continuing to progress measures to ensure the most effective deployment of already delivered but unsold affordable homes, including their use for social housing purposes.