Billy Timmins
Ceist:10 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if local authorities have completed their authorised starts for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29357/00]
Written Answers. - Local Authority Housing.
The number of authorised starts under the local authority housing construction/acquis-ition programme was 3,700 in 1997, 3,700 in 1998 and 4,500 in 1999. The number of completions and acquisitions in each of those years was 3,217 in 1997, 3,290 in 1998 and 3,713 in 1999.
Most of the authorised starts in each of those years would not have progressed to completions until the following year. Also, in 1997 and 1998, at the request of Dublin Corporation, my Department agreed to allow the corporation to divert funding to the equivalent level of 200 new houses in both of those years away from the housing construction programme and into a programme of regeneration of older flat complexes. In effect this reduced the corporation's main housing programme from 500 starts to 300 starts in each of those two years with a knock-on effect on the overall completion totals.
It became more evident in 1999 that the local authority programme was not achieving the level of completions expected and I decided to introduce, for the first time, a four year multi-annual programme for the period 2000-03 in order to assist better forward planning by local authorities and to increase output.
As part of Action on Housing the Government increased the local authority housing programme by an extra 1,000 units in each year from 2001 to 2006. This increase of 6,000 starts in the local authority housing programme means that capital funding is now committed for 41,500 starts over the national development plan period to meet existing demand more quickly. I recently notified local authorities of the allocation of 3,000 of these extra starts for the period covering the multi-annual programme up to 2003. The four year multi-annual programme will, therefore, increase from 22,000 to 25,000 housing starts. This is indicative of the Government's commitment to increasing momentum in the programme.
Local authorities are aware that the necessary funding for the capital programme is in place and there is no impediment on this front. In 1997 the number of house starts allocated to local authorities was 3,500. It has now been virtually doubled with latitude given to local authorities to front load programmes as much as they want. I believe that the implementation of the multi-annual housing programme will be successful and we will achieve targeted output over the period of the programme. I envisage that there will be well in excess of 5,000 local authority houses under construction at the end of this year – the highest level for very many years and evidence that the multi-annual programme approach is beginning to bear fruit.