asked the Taoiseach whether he is aware that grave hardship is being caused to thousands of Dublin citizens by the slow, cumbersome and antiquated way in which the Dublin Corporation is dealing with the housing problem; and whether the Government will consider the appointment of a Parliamentary Secretary to deal solely with this problem and introduce proposals for legislation that will empower the Parliamentary Secretary so appointed to slash the "red tape" entanglements that are now impeding the building of houses for workers in Dublin and to enable him to carry out a programme of building of at least 5,000 houses per year.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Housing Problem.
From the information at my disposal, I am satisfied that the explanation why the volume of housing activity by the Dublin Corporation is not greater than it is at present is to be found, not in the reasons suggested by the Deputy, but in the shortage of skilled labour and, to a lesser extent, in the shortage which still exists of certain building materials.
The corporation completed 645 houses in 1947, 500 in 1948 and 1,116 in the first ten months of the present year. It is estimated that the number of houses completed in the 12 months ending the 31st December, 1949, will amount to 1,500 houses, or three times the 1948 level.
The corporation's programme aims at the provision of 30,000 houses in ten years, or an average of 3,000 houses a year. To facilitate the work of the corporation in reaching this target, a housing director was appointed early in 1948, the Dublin Housing Consultative Council was established and the housing technical and administrative staff of the corporation was expanded. Additional steps taken include the working of overtime on corporation schemes, the establishment of a direct-labour building organisation which now has 301 houses in course of construction, the division of certain schemes into small units so as to widen the field of contractors available for corporation work, and the placing of contracts for the erection of houses by non-traditional methods. A large-scale directlabour organisation, equipped with the most modern machinery, was also set up for the purpose of developing building sites.
The corporation could proceed immediately with a very substantial addition to its present volume of housing activity if an adequate supply of skilled labour were available. Skilled workers on corporation schemes have increased in number from 557 in December, 1947, to 1,627 in October of this year, but more are urgently needed for existing works alone. In these circumstances and in view of the shortage which still exists of certain building materials, any attempt at a substantial expansion of current works would merely impede the completion of houses and add still further to the cost.
So far as the Department of Local Government is concerned, the organisation there has also been overhauled to facilitate the transaction of the expanded housing work and to permit of specialisation in the more difficult aspects of the housing problem. A special section dealing with housing construction has been set up, and the staff has been augmented by the appointment of additional senior staff including an assistant secretary and a chief housing architect.
It follows from what I have said that the appointment of a Parliamentary Secretary or the further cutting of what the Deputy terms "red tape" offers no solution to the problems confronting the Dublin Corporation in its housing effort.
The Department of Local Government, as now expanded, has, under the constant personal guidance of the Minister, facilitated and encouraged local authorities and private enterprise in the present all-out campaign for more and better houses.
I feel that no good purpose would be served by putting supplementary questions to the Taoiseach on this matter, and so, with the permission of the Chair, I intend to raise it on the Adjournment this evening.
Prior notice has been given by Deputy Lemass to raise the subject matter of Question No. 1 on the Adjournment.
I think mine is more important.