Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 495: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the position regarding a facility for purchasers under existing affordable housing or shared ownership arrangements who wish to re-mortgage or top-up their mortgage without triggering the clawback clause; and if so, if he could provide a timeframe for same [39028/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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While provision has been made in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 to allow purchasers under the new Affordable Dwelling Purchase Arrangements to re-mortgage or top-up their mortgage without triggering the clawback, the Act does not provide this facility for purchasers under existing affordable housing or shared ownership arrangements. I have requested my Department to arrange to have the provisions necessary to address this matter included in the first appropriate legislative vehicle that becomes available.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 496: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount spent by Government on social, affordable and voluntary housing schemes in each of the years 2007, 2008, and 2009; the number of social and affordable houses completed in each of those years; if he expects to reach the national development plan target of 100,000 new social and affordable houses by 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39054/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2000, very significant levels of investment have been made available under the Social Housing Investment Programme with over €11.5 billion provided for the construction or acquisition of units by local authorities and approved housing bodies. Details on the amount spent under the various social housing programmes and the outputs achieved are set out in tables 1 and 2.

Meeting housing need remains a high priority for the Government. While ensuring that we can deliver across the full range of needs, the scale and composition of the public housing programme in the years ahead will be dependent on a number of factors, including the level of available funding and the evolution of the housing market generally, for example, to take account of the fall-off in demand for affordable housing. I am determined to ensure that the overall delivery programme is framed in a manner which continues to optimise the way in which needs are met. To achieve this, it is essential that we tailor the available Exchequer supports to prevailing market conditions, and explore alternative solutions to address needs, having full regard to the sustainable communities philosophy outlined in the Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities .

To this end, the range of delivery mechanisms continues to be adapted and expanded. For example, last year, I introduced a new Social Housing Leasing Initiative, under which in excess of 2,000 units have now been sourced and through which I expect a substantial number of units to be provided in the years ahead to meet housing needs, estimated at just over 56,000 households in the 2008 Housing Needs Assessment. This, together with the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), complements the traditional capital funded programmes operated through local authorities and the voluntary and co-operative housing sector. The combined budget provision for leasing and RAS for 2010 is €150 million and I anticipate that, taken together, the two schemes will deliver half of the projected social housing output this year.

I will be keeping the leasing initiative and all the other housing programmes under ongoing review to ensure that they are appropriately geared towards meeting the maximum level of housing need.

Table 1

Table 2 - Number of units provided