The Government claims the shared ownership scheme between first-time buyers and local authorities to be one of the successes of its so-called housing policy. Is the Taoiseach aware that the price limit for a housing unit that may be purchased via this scheme in the four local authority areas covering this city and its environs is between €210,000 and €275,000? Does the Taoiseach share with Members the despair of those first-time buyers, given the limitations that apply under this scheme? The set figures deny people who aspire to shared ownership via this scheme and close it off for them entirely across the greater Dublin area.

Last week, Sinn Féin conducted a survey in the four Dublin local authority areas. A total of 24 estate agents across Dublin were surveyed and we found only 12 properties across the four areas for sale within the limits of the shared ownership scheme as laid down in each of the authority areas. A total of 11 of the properties were located within the Dublin City Council area. No suitable accommodation was found in the Fingal or South Dublin County Council areas and only one was found in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Of the 11 properties found in the Dublin City Council area, three were so-called apartments. They were little more than one room and one bedroom facilities. Seven of them were one bedroom apartments, ranging in price from €195,000 to €260,000. We only found a single two bedroom house, which was priced at €259,000.

The Deputy's time has concluded.

Does the Taoiseach accept that there are thousands of people on the social housing list in Dublin and hundreds of these have applied for the shared ownership scheme? Will the Taoiseach acknowledge that applications from these people are, to all intents and purposes, a waste of time, given the restrictive ceiling figures that apply for this scheme in the respective four authority areas cited by me? What will the Taoiseach do to tackle house prices and to tackle the need of the many thousands of families — over 44,000 identifiable household units — across this State, many of whom are in the city of Dublin? Will he, for instance, reinstate Part V of the Planning and Development Act, that he diluted in 2002 at the behest of developers and speculators? Will he also consider compulsory purchase orders in respect of land for the provision of much-needed housing, as is done for the provision of roads?

In respect of shared ownership and other schemes, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with responsibility for housing examines the thresholds for these schemes on an annual basis and continually adjusts them based on what is happening in the market. It is true that in the first half of this year, there was a very steep increase in prices in the third quarter, particularly in the second-hand market in Dublin. This increase has stabilised to great extent. The Minister of State will examine the figures, as he does every year.

Approximately 17,000 units will be delivered for various affordable housing schemes between 2007 and 2009. That is in line with what has happened in the past few years across a range of schemes. There are approximately six different national schemes administered by local authorities that assist people in that regard. Last year, we established the affordable homes partnership to add impetus to the delivery of affordable housing in the greater Dublin area, where price pressures, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, are greatest.

As well as producing some very good and easily understood information, particularly for young people and people on affordable housing, which sets out the various local authority papers and position in very clear language and has proven to be very helpful, the partnership group has advanced a number of projects. It has exchanged sites like Broc House for affordable housing and has continued with other schemes. It began with the Harcourt Street deal, invited proposals to bring forward additional land, mainly for affordable housing, provided high quality guidance on affordable housing schemes and produced a range of other initiatives.

Approximately 70 sites have been identified for State or local authority lands. There is an output from Part V, which has the potential to deliver a target figure of approximately 10,000 units. Members will have seen the information on Part V produced by the Department in the past few days which shows that far greater output is received from Part V as the old planning permissions have run through the system. As the Deputy will recall, changes were made to Part V because it was stated in this House and elsewhere that because Part V was so restrictive, it would stagnate the market when we needed to create supply.

The nucleus of Part V is working. The initiative has delivered and hopes to deliver several thousand units over the next few years. It is estimated that approximately 2,250 units will be provided under the initiative this year and that over 3,000 units will be provided next year. As Members can see from the information provided by the affordable homes partnership, the partnership has identified a large amount of housing, admittedly mainly apartments, that are within the range of affordable houses on the fringes of the greater Dublin area, which should certainly help the 44,000 household units referred to by Deputy Ó Caoláin. In addition — the Deputy did not raise this matter — there is provision this year for approximately €2 billion to be spent by local authorities on social housing, which is more than double the expenditure of six years ago.

One would have to point out to the Taoiseach that Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 was brought in some years ago. We are now heading into 2007. The five-year position in respect of planning approvals kicking in would surely have shown before now. Much of the response the Taoiseach has given this afternoon is clearly from a briefing note prepared last year, which did not kick in this year either and I fear will not do so in 2007. It is stale and needs to be revisited.

There are 44,000 identifiable household units across this State, including a great number of people in the city of Dublin, who are anxiously waiting for the provision of social or affordable housing. Only 5% of the houses completed across this State in the first three months of this year were in the social or affordable housing category. Does the Taoiseach agree that this is a very poor number, given that there is a real crisis, identified by a raft of organisations and commentators in this area?

The Deputy's time has concluded.

Does the Taoiseach not agree that we need to see the restoration of Part V of the Planning and Development Act, which was introduced by his Government and supported by me? This measure was innovative and courageous, yet the Government buckled under the pressure in 2002 and amended it to suit the interests of a particular sector.

In the course of his reply, the Taoiseach neglected to address the ceiling figures I identified as a result of the survey we have carried out that clearly shows that the shared ownership scheme is a non-runner. It is a dead duck across the four local authority areas in the city of Dublin. Will the Taoiseach ensure that the threshold for qualification for the shared ownership scheme is increased adequately in line with the situation that is real outside this House for so many people in this city?

I thought I had answered the Deputy's last point, but to clarify matters, the thresholds for people applying under the various schemes are examined on an annual basis and I understand they will be examined again this year. They are based on what happened in the market during the previous year and are examined annually.

Will the Taoiseach push them?

Yes, I will raise that issue. I do not wish to debate Part V, but when we introduced Part V of the Planning and Development Act, the cry from everywhere was that it was overly restrictive and unworkable and would not provide us with a supply so we made changes to it. We were told at the time that there would be a run-through of approximately five years before those planning permissions were dealt with and that we would not get the benefit of this measure for a number of years. We are now beginning to obtain the benefits, as I demonstrated with the figures I quoted earlier.

The most up-to-date figures show that we are heading this year for approximately 90,000 completions. In Towards 2016, we committed ourselves to producing 17,000 affordable houses over a three-year period. The needs of approximately 60,000 households will be met through the various schemes. These were the figures agreed under the social partnership process, towards which the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is working.

We are examining issues surrounding developers who have land with planning permission but are not building on that land. There is an argument about how extensive this problem is but we are examining the relevant legislation to try to find a legal method of forcing people who sit on planning permissions and watch prices escalate to build on those lands. We are at an advanced stage in respect of legislation on that issue.

As we head into November, the affordable housing schemes, the affordable housing partnership, the housing programme itself and social programmes are well on target in respect of the commitments in that regard at the beginning of the year. Approximately 6,500 local authority houses will be acquired this year, including units provided under various regeneration schemes. A total of 14,000 household units will be acquired from a range of social and affordable housing schemes, representing an additional investment for the period ahead. There has been an acquisition of a further 4,000 housing units, bringing the total number for the latest period on which the Department worked up to 27,000. That is quite an increase. The Deputy stated there are 44,000 people on the housing list but that is almost a 10% decrease on the last housing statistics. That is a considerable decrease. The income threshold for eligibility under the grant schemes will be examined. They are usually considered at the end of the year but I will raise the issue with the Minister.