Vol. 473 No. 1
208 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for the Environment the progress, if any, made to date towards providing 3,100 units of additional traveller accommodation by the year 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24727/96]
The drafting of the necessary legislation requiring local authorities to draw up and adopt five year programmes to make adequate provision for the accommodation of travellers is at an advanced stage in my Department. Pending the enactment of the legislation, local authorities have been requested to initiate the preparation of local traveller accommodation programmes and to push ahead with the provision of accommodation for travellers. Accommodation for travellers is provided by local authorities in serviced residential caravan parks, group housing schemes and in standard houses provided under their ongoing local authority housing programme. A total of £6.5 million was recouped to local authorities in 1996 in respect of the construction of serviced residential caravan parks and group housing schemes for travellers. The capital allocation for 1997 for these purposes is £11 million.
Ten serviced residential caravan parks were completed in 1996 providing 57 new bays and a further 26 redeveloped bays. Six further projects are in progress which will redevelop and additional 98 bays and provide 70 new bays. Three group housing schemes were completed in 1996 which provided 24 new group houses and refurbished four houses. Two other schemes are in progress which will provide a further 15 houses. The foregoing figures do not include the number of standard local authority houses let to travellers, this information will become available when returns are received from local authorities in 1997.
