Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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89. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for the Part V arrangement in relation to planning, whereby 20% of social or affordable housing, or a mixture of both, must be provided when a development site is above a certain area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25454/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As a result of the economic downturn, there has been an associated significant decline in construction activity. As the extent of social housing gain from Part V is directly related to private housing construction, the current situation is that Part V is delivering little in terms of social housing.

I am committed to the principle of a social housing gain from private development but to maximise that gain we need a properly functioning and sustainable construction sector. I believe that the Part V mechanism has the potential to again be a significant contributor to social housing in the context of a recovering housing market.

The Government’s recently published Construction 2020 – A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sectoraims to build a competitive, innovative, and sustainable construction sector. Action 9 of the strategy provides that the review of Part V will be completed in Q2 of 2014. It is anticipated that any legislative changes required on foot of the review will be incorporated into the General Scheme of a Planning Bill, which is currently in preparation.