Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason a person on supplementary benefit does not meet the criteria to apply for social housing; the steps he will take to rectify this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39118/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The eligibility criteria for persons to receive social housing support are set out in regulations made under section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009. Under these regulations a person may or may not be eligible for social housing support while in receipt of supplementary benefit, depending on the individual household circumstances.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the current waiting time for an offer of social housing from when an application is processed to when an offer is made; his views that an answer of eight years from one local authority is acceptable; the steps he will take to reduce that eight-year waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39122/11]

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way he proposes to address the volume of applications for local authority housing throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39176/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 60 together.

Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need carried out in March 2011, including a breakdown by housing authority, is available on my Department's website www.environ.ie or on the Housing Agency's website at www.housing.ie . Data on the length of time on the waiting list, broken down by local authority, are available at Table A 6 of the assessment. A consequence of the significant increase in the numbers of households applying for social housing support in the last three years is an increase in the length of time that it takes for an applicant household to be allocated support.

The Government's new housing policy statement, published in June 2011, will serve as a framework for a sequence of legislative and policy initiatives in the short to medium term. Based on a number of fundamental principles and goals that will form the foundation of a substantial reform programme, the new framework for housing policy responds to current and emerging conditions in the housing sector, taking account of the dramatic cycle of rapid growth and sudden collapse in the residential property market. The centrepiece of the approach is to chart a way forward for housing policy in Ireland by placing greater emphasis on:

· choice;

· equity across housing tenures; and

· delivering quality outcomes for the resources invested.

In terms of the delivery of social housing, the policy statement clearly identifies that the main focus in terms of supports provided by Government will be on meeting the most acute needs – the housing support needs of those unable to provide for their accommodation from their own resources. The financial parameters within which we will be operating for the coming years rule out a return to very large capital funded construction programmes by local authorities. Nevertheless, we are committed to responding more quickly and on a larger scale to social housing support needs through a variety of mechanisms including through increased provision of social housing.

Delivery of social housing will be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as RAS and leasing, but the Government is also committed to developing other funding mechanisms that will increase the supply of permanent new social housing. Such mechanisms will include options to purchase, build to lease, the sourcing of loan finance by approved housing bodies for construction and acquisition. There is also obvious potential, across a range of housing programmes, for the Government's objective of sourcing and providing suitable residential units for use as social housing to be aligned with the commercial objectives of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).