asked the Minister for Local Government the number of houses completed in the private sector in the first six months of 1975 and in the first six months of 1976.
19.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Housing Statistics.
14.
asked the Minister for Local Government the number of local authority houses completed in the first six months of 1975: and the number completed in the first six months of 1976.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Question Nos. 14 and 19 together.
The numbers of houses completed by local authorities and by private enterprise in the six months ended 30th June, 1975, were 3,957 and 9,452 respectively. The corresponding numbers completed in the six months ended 30th June, 1976, were 3,436 and 8,163, respectively. However, I am satisfied that over the four-year period ending 31st March next, the Government's target of 100,000 new houses will be achieved. I would remind the Deputy also that the total number of houses completed in the last four years of Fianna Fáil administration in this country was 66,982.
It is very interesting to find the Minister lumping four years together now. He used to do that in respect of our houses. Would the Minister agree that it is deplorable there should be such a fall in the number of private houses built in the first six months of this year as compared with the first six months of last year and is he aware that the downgrading of the SDA loans by his refusal to increase the maximum income limit and by refusing to increase the loan limit is largely responsible for the fall in the number of houses built in the private sector and will he now consider and review the matter as one of some urgency?
I lumped one year, two years and three years together and now we are coming up to four years so I am lumping four years together. You know, it is a little bit better when you look at them that way as against taking the years individually. The average is about 14,300 taking them in the four years and before that they were down to 12,000. I do not think the fall is catastrophic because I believe we will have our target again before the end of the year. I would also point out that the amount of money available for housing this year is well up on previous years and there is no shortfall. In fact, and this is one of the things Deputy Faulkner quoted to me across the floor of the House some time ago, the sales of cement, which are supposed to be a good indicator of activity in the building industry generally, totalled from January to September a 4.9 per cent increase on the corresponding period in 1975. Deputy Faulkner's suggestion, not for the first time, that the building industry is collapsing is a little off beam.
Is the Minister aware that the money being made available may be higher in current terms but in real terms it is much lower than it was previously? Is the Minister further aware that unemployment in the building industry has increased by 99.7 per cent over the past two years, that there are now 25,000 building workers unemployed, one fourth of the total workforce? Is he not concerned about this?
My job was to ensure that a certain number of houses would be completed. That job has been done. All the talk of Deputy Faulkner and his friends will not alter the fact that 25,000 plus houses have been built every year in the last four years.
Would the Minister answer the question I asked him previously? In view of the fact that there has been a very considerable fall in the number of private houses built and the number of local authority houses built——
We must avoid repetition. Repetition is not in order.
——in the first six months of this year as compared with the first six months of last year, will he reconsider the position in relation to the maximum SDA loan level?
That is a separate matter.
There is not a fall in the actual amount of money available. On the contrary, there has been a very big increase in the amount of money available. In view of the fact that the best number of local authority houses that Fianna Fáil could ever see built was 4,113 and we built 8,900 last year I do not know what Deputy Faulkner is talking about.
Would the Minister agree that in the early days of the Coalition he was able to make progress because of the worth-while economic situation he found when he went into office but now after three-and-a-half years the number of private houses has fallen by over 1,200 and the number of local authority houses has fallen by over 500 in the first six months of this year as compared with the first six months of last year?
Deputy Faulkner apparently did not hear me right. We built 4,500 more local authority houses last year than were built in the year he is talking about. There is no fall. We would want to fall very drastically before we would get back to the catastrophic position which occurred here when Fianna Fáil were in office.
Question No. 15.
May I ask the Minister——
I have called the next question. The Deputy seems to persist in barracking the Chair. In an earlier question I had this experience.
I beg your pardon. I refute that remark entirely.
I had to ask the Deputy then to sit down.
I asked if I could ask a question and you said no. I resumed my seat. I do so again but under severe protest at your remark.