Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 16 Nov 1999

Vol. 510 No. 6

Written Answers. - Housing Supply.

Alan M. Dukes

Ceist:

88 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of housing starts recorded on their own account by each of the housing authorities up to 31 October 1999; and the way in which these figures compare to the same period in 1998. [23442/99]

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

Information on housing starts-acquisitions is returned by local authorities to my Department on a quarterly basis and is published in my Department's housing statistics bulletin. Details for the quarter ending September 1999 are being compiled in my Department at present and will be included in the next edition of the bulletin to be published at the end of the month.

The current indications are that the level of housing starts-acquisitions achieved by authorities between January and the end of September is of the same order as that achieved by authorities in the same period last year when some 1,200 houses were started/acquired. Because of the nature of an annual programme most of the starts authorised for a current year do not usually start until the last quarter of the year. I expect that the total number of starts to be commenced or houses acquired this year will be of the order of 4,000. A new four year multi-annual programme is being introduced next year to overcome the stop go nature of a single annual programme and to help ensure that starts are not bunched towards the last quarter of the year.