asked the Minister for the Environment if he will give the up-to-date figure for housing starts for 1986; and the measures he intends taking to bring the level of house completions for the year to 30,000 as promised by the Tánaiste in the Dáil in December 1982.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Housing Starts.
42.
An accurate estimate of the number of new houses to be started this year is not available. The overall level of housing output is determined largely by the level of private housing activity. This, in turn, is affected both by the general economic situation and, in particular, by the level of demand. In these circumstances, a priority of the Government has been to maintain and expand the range of publicly financed incentives to stimulate private housing demand, notably by the introduction of the £5,000 grant to encourage local authority tenants and tenant purchasers to acquire private houses, by doubling the new house grant, by continuing the mortgage subsidy and by ensuring an adequate level of mortgage finance from public and commercial sources.
In so far as local authority housing is concerned, the target set in Building on Reality of providing accommodation annually for 9,000 households on local authority waiting lists was well exceeded in 1985 and will be comfortably met in the current year bringing a significant reduction in the numbers on local authority waiting lists.
Generally, it would seem that the level of demand existing at present for private and local authority housing does not require an annual output of new houses of the order of 30,000, but I am optimistic that, in so far as private housing is concerned, the current trends in inflation, interest rates and real incomes will soon have a favourable effect on the level of activity.
The information I asked for was the up-to-date figures for housing starts for 1986. Has the Minister of State got the figures?
No. The figures are not available for 1986, and the Deputy should be aware of that.
Is the Minister aware that for the first time in nearly 15 years house completions will be below 20,000 in 1986, despite the commitments of the Government to construct 30,000 houses annually?
I do not accept that.
Every year since 1982 the Minister has seen a decline in the number of house completions. The number last year was the lowest in ten years. In their document Building on Reality the Government predicted 30,000 local authority completions each year.
For the first time in the history of the State people in most local authority areas, particularly the bigger ones, can now have houses on demand. This is something I never thought I would see. It is there as a result of prudent Government management which has encouraged people with grants to buy their own homes, thereby leaving a greater number of local authority houses available. It is heartening to see the progress being made in regard to local authority housing. Because of the grants, local authorities have a surplus number of houses.
We are back to 1957 when people were walking away and closing their doors because they were taking the boat. Does the Minister acknowledge that housing starts are down 42 per cent in the last two years?
The Deputy threw out a figure of fewer than 20,000, which I do not accept. He spoke about local authority housing being down by 20 per cent. The responsibility of a Government is to provide adequate housing and adequate local authority housing is available. For the first time in Dublin one-third of the allocations last year went to homeless people. That is something we can be proud of. They were not queuing up and being totally ignored as in the past by Governments who did not care about the homeless or anybody else.
That is only waffle. The Tánaiste came in here in December 1982 and said there would be 30,000 completions every year. In 1986 the figure will be less than 20,000. What is the Minister going to do to get the building workers and the building industry going? Cement sales are plummeting. Yet with smugness and condescension the Minister has told us everything is going well. He should know his responsibility in regard to the housing industry. The whole thing is a sham and the Minister is not accepting his responsibility.
Obviously the Deputy does not hear too well. The housing grant has been doubled——
The index figure for the building and construction industry has dropped from 100 to 54.
The new £5,000 grant has brought a large number of people on the market to purchase houses. The local authority housing programme is well up, and for the first time people can get houses on demand.
Not enough houses are being built.
The Deputy should be well aware that any business is based on supply and demand. The facilities are there, the grants are there, the mortgage subsidy is there and the interest relief is there. I am satisfied that the Government have done and are doing everything that can be done to ensure that the building industry will be in a viable position.