asked the Minister for the Environment if he will provide an estimate of the amount of derelict land within the boundaries of Dublin city which could be utilised for house building purposes; and an estimate of the total number of new houses which will be completed within the city boundary over the next five years.

The information on derelict land, requested by the Deputy, is not available in my Department.

As to estimated new house completions, Dublin Corporation's programme of local authority house construction during a five-year period from 1975 to 1980 envisaged the building of approximately 11,600 dwellings, including 2,400 dwellings within the city boundaries.

Am I to assume that derelict land is not ignored in consideration of the likely available land for the building of houses?

It is not ignored by the corporation.

Would they not have an estimate of the amount available?

It is understood that there are about 400 derelict sites in the Dublin city area on which action could be taken.

Amounting to an acreage of?

I cannot say. I have not the acreage, but the corporation are actively pursuing the clearance of about 150 of these sites.

Do they not have a summary of the amount of land involved in those derelict sites?

The information on derelict land which the Deputy requested is not available in my Department. In regard to sites acquired for housing, Dublin Corporation according to the end of February progress report, had available to them within the city boundary 2,738 sites comprising 1,933 in the ownership of the corporation and 805 available through confirmed CPOs.

For the provision of how many houses? Does it give that figure?

The number of sites is 2,738.

Not houses?

I have not got a breakdown of the figure.

Can the Minister indicate how a Deputy on this side of the House could begin to measure the amount of derelict land available either in Dublin city or in any other local authority? Can the information be obtained from the Minister's Department?

The way to do that would be for my Department to ask the corporation to do it, which we will do.

Is the Minister aware that for the last two-and-a-half years Dublin Corporation have been engaged in the exercise of trying to gauge the acreage and the number of sites and that, at present, there is the glaring omission that neither his own Department nor the responsible local authority is in a position to say exactly how many acres of derelict sites there are in the city of Dublin? Does the Minister agree that that presents a basic weakness in any strategy for housing or for planning and development in our city and if so, will he attend to it immediately?

I will ask the corporation if they can come up with an acreage for the sites.

Is the Minister aware that the apparently substantial number of sites which are referred to, in excess of 2,500, is in effect of the order of 70 acres of land within the city boundary? In view of the fact that there are 6,000 families on the waiting list, I would ask the Minister to turn his mind to the inevitability that the acreage presently owned by the corporation will be too small for the number of people seeking housing within the city?

I assume that the waiting list mentioned by the Deputy is the total waiting list of the Dublin Corporation.

Yes.

Dublin Corporation do provide housing outside the city boundary as the Deputy is aware.

Order please. We have had enough questions in relation to this matter.

It is inevitable that some people will have to go outside the city boundary when sufficient houses cannot be provided within the city.

Question No. 16.