Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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475. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the research methods used in planning for the provision of social housing for families that have been assessed as having a housing need, in the Kildare area and other counties individually; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36587/13]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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476. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the resources he has anticipated are required in the next five years to accommodate families unable to provide housing from their own resources, in the Kildare area and other counties individually; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36590/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 475 and 476 together.

One of the key informants of social housing supply policy is the level of demand for social housing support nationally and individually at local authority level. Sections of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 dealing with social housing support, and related Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, contain national eligibility criteria which must be applied by all housing authorities in assessing a household's eligibility for social housing support. The Regulations provide for certain information to be gathered in respect of households which are determined to have a need, including the number, gender and ages of persons in the household. In this regard I am confident that when I directed all housing authorities to prepare a summary of social housing assessments carried out in their areas on 7 May 2013, the results to be published later this year will give an accurate reflection of the level and type of need at both local authority and national level.

In terms of addressing that need, Government policy is committed to responding more quickly and on a larger scale to social housing support requirements through a variety of mechanisms, including through increased provision of social housing. In July 2012 I announced details of a three-year funding programme of €100 million to deliver some 800 new units of voluntary and local authority owned social housing. I am monitoring expenditure under my Department's housing programme for 2013, together with the level of contractual commitments extending into 2014, with a view to a decision later this year on approving some limited new construction and house purchases over the period to end 2014. Delivery of social housing will be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as the Rental Accommodation Scheme 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 and 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). My Department and the Housing Agency are engaged with NAMA to ensure the identification of suitable housing units for social purposes and this process is on-going.

Given the current volatility of the market and different challenges to the channels of supply it is difficult to estimate the likely output of new units for social housing this year or in subsequent years. However, it is provisionally estimated that in the region of 5,000 units will be provided for social housing in 2013.