I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 120 together.
The affordable housing initiative forms part of the housing and accommodation special initiative under the new national partnership agreement Sustaining Progress. Now that the agreement has been ratified, the steering group, representative of Government and relevant social partners, will shortly address arrangements for advancing the various special initiatives under Sustaining Progress, including the housing and accommodation initiative and arrangements for deciding how action will be taken forward on these initiatives.
While the details of the new initiative have yet to be elaborated, it is aimed at further enhancing the supply of affordable housing. It is envisaged that this initiative will differ from the 1999 affordable housing scheme in terms of the target group and the fact that it will be designed not to have an impact on the Exchequer or general Government finances. Furthermore, it is intended that the initiative will not detract from the funding available for existing social and affordable housing programmes or effect the momentum of delivery of these programmes. Capital spending in 2003 on these programmes will be about €1.7 billion, which will allow for the needs of over 12,000 households to be met this year.
I welcome this initiative as another means of bringing more affordable housing on stream. In responding to the proposal, the Government is committed to an ambitious scale of delivery of affordable housing for the target groups concerned. We will work to ensure that the output from all affordable housing schemes is maximised. It will be important more generally to ensure the continuation of measures to maintain the overall supply of new houses.
Work is well under way on implementing the homeless strategy and the local homeless action plans. Homeless fora have been established at local level to oversee the provision of services to homeless people and to draw up three-year action plans to tackle homelessness. Most of the plans have been completed and work is under way on implementing them. As part of the plans, a range of new accommodation and related services have been developed and funded.
At national level, the cross-departmental team on homelessness is monitoring progress regarding the implementation of the strategy and the action plans. I have also asked the team to examine how best to evaluate the homeless strategy and action plan. I hope that this evaluation can commence before the end of this year.