There has been an increase in the number of social housing units from 600 last year to 950 in the first eight months of this year.
Speaking after officially opening the 2001 Biennial Conference of the Irish Council for Social Housing at Westport Co Mayo, Mr Robert Molloy Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, said that there was a noticeable increase in activity in the social housing sector.
Addressing the conference, the Minister said that output by the sector in 2000 showed a substantial increase in the number of units completed with a marked increase in the number of units of voluntary housing accommodation under construction.
“The indications are that there will be continued growth in output by the sector this year and that we are in line to reach the National Development Plan Target of 1,250 units for 2001”, the Minister said.
He added that a further positive indicator of increased activity in the Sector was the grant of £135 million in assistance towards voluntary housing building programmes compared to £119 million for the whole of 2000.