HC Deb 19 February 1976 vol 905 cc1468-9
8. Mr. McCusker

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number of houses built by the Housing Executive in 1975.

The Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Concannon)

A total of 4,885 new houses were completed and in addition 780 were brought back into use.

Mr. McCusker

Will the Minister confirm that that is the lowest total of houses built in Northern Ireland for over 20 years and is a condemnation of the Housing Executive? In view of the fact that it has already been shown that three times that number of houses can be built in Northern Ireland, what, precisely, will the hon. Gentleman do to achieve that target?

Mr. Concannon

In all the circumstances, the Executive is doing a good job. There is no intention of referring the control of housing in Northern Ireland to local government. No other housing authority in the United Kingdom has had to put up with murder, intimidation, having its headquarters bombed seven times and having its various regional offices bombed—the last one of which was in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. A total of 25,000 houses have been damaged by bombs, fire and vandalism; 60,000 people have had to move home because of violence and the threat of violence: there has been widespread squatting, and 10,000 houses have been abandoned; housing schemes have been delayed because of the para-militaries and intimidation of contractors. It is time that the hon. Gentleman backed the Housing Executive instead of trying to destroy it.