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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Nov 2003

Vol. 575 No. 4

Written Answers. - Local Authority Housing.

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

83 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the progress made to date with regard to the details of the agreement reached with the trade unions and employer organisations regarding the building of 10,000 affordable houses; when the scheme will start; the timespan within which the 10,000 houses will be built; the persons by whom they will be built; if sites have yet been handed over for this purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28446/03]

The Government has committed to an ambitious scale of delivery of affordable housing coming through the new affordable housing initiative under Sustaining Progress. The announcement in July this year of the immediate release of two sites in Dublin, and agreement to a proposal relating to two further sites in Meath and Kildare was a critical step in ensuring early delivery of affordable housing under this initiative. The Government is working with the parties to the pay agreement to define the precise terms of the initiative, including the eligibility criteria to apply to the target group.

With regard to the release of further State land for this initiative, a series of meetings have been held with other Departments and a review of local authority land is under way to allow a further report to Government on this matter in the near future. It is envisaged that local authorities will have an important role to play in the delivery of this initiative. Work on implementing the initiative is progressing as a priority and this is firm evidence of the Government's determination to making measurable progress in the implementation of this initiative by the mid-term review of Sustaining Progress in mid-2004.

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