Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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249. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the costings that have been provided for a reduction in Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to 15%,10%, 5%, or its complete abolition in terms of estimated social housing unit reductions and financial loss to local authorities on an annual basis in 2015 to 2020. [36328/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Part V Review carried out by the Housing Agency at my Department's request, has been completed and will be submitted to Government shortly. The review considered a wide range of options. It is anticipated that any legislative changes required on foot of the review will, subject to Government approval, be incorporated into the General Scheme of a new Planning Bill, which is expected to be published shortly. It would not be appropriate to set out the findings of the review until the Government has had the opportunity to consider them, but it is my intention to publish the Housing Agency’s review in due course.

As the extent of social housing gain from Part V is directly related to private housing construction, the current situation is that there is very limited Part V delivery 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 Construction 2020 strategy, published in May 2014, aims to build a competitive, innovative, and sustainable construction sector. My intention is that the Social Housing Strategy, required under Action 8 of Construction 2020 and now in preparation, will be both challenging and innovative, and will provide the basis for an enhanced approach to social housing provision in Ireland. I expect that the strategy will be considered by Government in the coming weeks and published thereafter.