Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 19 Oct 1999

Vol. 509 No. 4

Written Answers. - Local Authority Housing.

Paul McGrath

Question:

280 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of local authority house starts approved by his Department for each of the past 20 years; the annual allocation for each of the past five years per authority; the number of allocations not completed in the year of allocation; when they were completed; and the position in relation to the remaining house starts. [20768/99]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

The total number of local authority house starts for each of the years 1980 to 1999 are set out in the following table. Information on the number of house starts allocated to each authority and house completions over the past five years is available in my Department's housing statistics bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. Generally, local authority house starts are completed in the year following the allocation of the starts and few houses, with the exception of acquisitions, are completed in the year in which the start is allocated.

Local Authority House Starts 1980-1999

Year	Total
1980	5,758
1981	5,169
1982	5,960
1983	7,084
1984	6,459
1985	5,315
1986	2,599
1987	974
1988	731
1989	708
1990	1,300
1991	1,500
1992	1,000
1993	3,500
1994	3,500
1995	3,900
1996	3,900
1997	3,900
1998	3,900
1999	4,500

Prior to 1990 my Department issued financial allocations to local authorities in respect of their housing programmes but not advance allocation of starts. The figures from 1980 to 1989 refer, therefore, to the number of houses actually commenced while those from 1990 to 1999 relate to numbers approved to start.