Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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415. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the basis of the identification for the need for 35,000 additional properties for social housing as prepared by the Housing Agency on page 13 of the Government's Social Housing Strategy; if he will publish the analysis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46798/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Social Housing Strategy 2020, approved by Government and published last month, builds on the provisions contained in Budget 2015 and sets out clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all households on the housing list. The total targeted provision of over 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme, will address the needs of the 90,000 on the housing waiting list in full, with flexibility to meet potential future demand.

The Strategy delivery target of 35,000 new social housing units is in line with the level of necessary new provision which the Housing Agency has identified based on their analysis of the results of the Housing Needs Assessment. The Summary of Social Housing Assessments 2013 identified 89,872 households assessed by local housing authorities as being eligible and in need of some form of social housing support. As part of the reporting exercise, additional information on households was collected including, household composition, category of need and current tenure type for each household. I understand that the Housing Agency analysis utilised all data collected to estimate the additional new social housing supply requirement. I have asked the Housing Agency to publish a report of its analysis and findings on its website, .

Chapter 2.4 of Social Housing Strategy 2020: Support, Supply and Reform,entitled the “The Nature and Scale of Social Housing Need”, provides details on the factors that were taken into account in arriving at the overall delivery target of 35,000 new social housing units.

The Strategy contains 37 actions, including a commitment to carry out the Housing Needs Assessment on an annual basis from 2016 onwards and to review progress on delivery of the Social Housing Strategy, including all targets and underlying assumptions, by Q1 2017.