Works on projects in Dublin such as the Millennium Bridge, the boardwalk, the water treatment plant and the port tunnel has meant that the City Council's capital expenditure rose by a massive 680 per cent between 1997 and 2002.
The huge increase in money spent on works is revealed in the annual report of Dublin City Council which shows that the majority of projects were carried out in 2001 and last year.
The costs of works increased from €125 million in 1997 to €798 million in 2001 and €868 million last year. The report also reviews its customer action plan and whether targets have been achieved.
The report showed that every dwelling that became available for letting was occupied by people renting on a full-time basis. This reached the target of 100 per cent occupancy.
A council spokesman said that in 2002 a total of 1,341 dwellings were let to people who had not rented before, a lot of whom would have been on the housing list.
The report also stated that the number of new dwellings on which building had started was 288, falling short of the target of 350.
The average time for the processing of housing/transfer applications from receipt of application to inclusion on the list was 10 weeks although the target was eight weeks.
In 2002 the council provided 109 affordable homes in a 374 unit development at Cedarbrook, Cherry Orchard, which is its first affordable housing scheme. The provision of housing through affordable schemes was a major area of growth with 565 houses and apartments started in 2002.
The report said the average Dublin household now produced over a tonne of waste per annum representing a 60 per cent increase in the last five years.