One third of State's houses built since 1995

More that one third of houses in the State were built in the last 10 years, according to the latest figures from the Department of the Environment.

Last year almost 81,000 houses were built, an increase of 5.2 per cent on 2004. It was the 11th consecutive year of record housing output.

This brings the total number of houses built since 1995 to 548,000, which accounts for 34 per cent of all houses in the State.

The increase was "an extraordinary development over a 10-year period" the Minister of State for Housing, Noel Ahern, said.

Based on economists' forecasts, his department believed that 2004 would remain the record year for house completions and that 2005 would be "down a bit", he said. However, the last quarter of 2005 saw a massive building surge, he said.

"Obviously there is still a very strong demand for housing. A lot of experts who make forecasts about a downturn have been wrong before, so they could be wrong again about forecasts for output and for prices."

Mr Ahern said he "did not doubt" that house prices would continue to rise. However the Government was making every effort to ensure the supply of houses would meet the demand.

"The only real way to control prices is by supply. That is why we are pushing all the time and encouraging more supply."

Dublin city and county had the largest number of houses built in 2005 at 18,019, an increase of 7.2 per cent on 2004. The neighbouring commuter counties also saw significant increases, with house completions up 12.8 per cent in Wicklow, 9.5 per cent in Meath, 4.5 per cent in Wexford and 3 per cent in Kildare.

Over the 10-year period from 1995, house building in Dublin doubled and in the greater Dublin area, encompassing Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, it increased by 124 per cent.

Counties with far lower populations had the largest percentage increases from 2004 to 2005, but lower numbers of houses built than in Dublin.

In Monaghan 953 houses were built, an increase of 31.1 per cent on 2004; in Donegal there were 3,667 completions, up 30.4 per cent; in Cavan 2,129 houses were built, up 24.7 per cent; and in Clare 2,174 houses were built, an increase of 18.7 per cent.

This increase in rural housing could be related to tax incentives for development, or an increase in second home ownership, Mr Ahern said. However in counties such as Cavan the new houses might be occupied by people commuting to Dublin.

Mr Ahern said he would rather see a greater density of housing in the greater Dublin region. "The greater Dublin area, that is where the greatest demand is and that is where we want units."