Housing completions statistics
Eoin Ó Broin questioned the accuracy of housing completion figures and asked whether the building control Bill would include a statutory register. The Taoiseach referred the matter to the Housing Minister, who said the heads of Bill should reach Cabinet by the end of February and that accurate completion figures were important.
There is a commitment in the programme for Government to deal with the shortage of new homes by incentivising and supporting increased delivery of private sector construction and the action plan for housing has very considerable targets in this regard. However, there is a question mark over the accuracy of the housing completions statistics that have been used to measure progress. Obviously, work is ongoing on the building control Bill. Given the fact that some experts have said there could be an overestimation of 50% by the Government, will it include in the legislation a statutory register for housing completions so that we can accurately assess the level of completions on an annual basis?
Comment on this
I will ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to answer the question.
Comment on this
As I stated last week, we should be in a position to bring the heads of the building control Bill to Cabinet before the end of February and we will then have an opportunity to debate the detail of the Bill. It is important that we have consistent and accurate figures on completions so that we can meet the targets we have set out.