asked the Minister for Local Government if he will examine the organisation and administrative machinery of the Housing and Supplies Department of the Dublin Corporation having particular regard to the procedure in operation for the acquisition of building sites, the placing of contracts and the building of houses, in order to ascertain if that department is properly organised to solve the grave housing shortage in a reasonable time; and if he will communicate the results of the inquiry to Dáil Éireann at the earliest opportunity.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Corporation Housing Department.
Mr. Murphy
The whole question of the steps necessary to improve and facilitate the organisation and administrative machinery of the Dublin Corporation concerned with housing is at present the subject of correspondence and discussions with the local authority. A new post of Chief Housing Officer has been created on the administrative side and arrangements have been made to augment the technical personnel. The chief obstacle impeding housing is not staffing or acquisition of sites, but the inability of the building industry at present to undertake the full programme that is ready to be offered for contract. Approval has therefore been given to the establishment by the local authority of a direct labour organisation to supplement the housing output of the building industry, and the local authority has been requested to examine the possibility of further increasing output by the use of new methods of construction. The Deputy may be assured that I shall keep under constant review the measures that will best enable the corporation to perfect an organisation capable of making the maximum contribution to the housing needs at the greatest possible speed. The results of my efforts will be made known to the Dáil from time to time, for example, when I am dealing with the Estimate for my Department. A new formal inquiry into the position does not, therefore, appear to be necessary.
Will the Minister indicate whether the problem to be considered in relation to the activities of the Dublin Corporation as regards housing arises from lack of labour or material, or a combination of both? Is that what the Minister has in mind when he talks of a new organisation?
Mr. Murphy
I should say that both factors enter largely into the matter and that the position is not the result of any single factor.