Almost 70,000 new homes were built in the State last year, an increase of nearly 20 per cent on the previous year.
One-off houses now account for up to 60 per cent of new homes in some rural areas, the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Noel Ahern, said yesterday.
The building of 68,819 houses or apartments last year was "an extraordinary level of output", he said.
"This is treble the figure in 1993 and double the figure in 1996." About 6,600 of these units were in the local authority, voluntary or social housing sectors.
Mr Ahern said last year was the ninth year of record housing output in the State. Dublin accounted for 14,394 house completions, while Cork accounted for 7,378.
The county with the smallest number of new houses constructed last year was Longford (659 houses), followed closely by Monaghan (660).
The National Development Plan estimated that 500,000 houses would be required between 2000 and 2010. Mr Ahern said that target was achievable, with 229,000 houses being built in the last four years.
Comparing Ireland's house-building rate with other EU states, he said: "We are so far ahead that it's incredible."
However, Ireland was playing "catch-up" because of the low levels of house-building in the past and the huge demand from the 25-34-year-old age group.
He said it was difficult to say if the growing availability of housing would bring prices down, as that trend had been predicted in recent years but had not been fulfilled.
The key issue was affordability, and it was easier to buy a house today at the current low interest rates than it was in 1992 when interest rates were as high as 17 per cent.
Mr Ahern said about 2,000 houses were becoming available every year under the affordable housing scheme, allowing people on lower incomes to become home-owners.
Meanwhile, about 12,000 people would come off the local authority's housing list this year,thanks to a mix of local authority and other schemes.
He criticised the trend of city dwellers building one-off houses in unsuitable areas but said people from rural areas were entitled to live where they worked.
"You cannot allow a situation where every Dubliner - because of more money in their pocket - has a once-off house in the scenic site of their choice." But it was "right and proper" that people who were from a rural area and had a reason to be there, should be allowed to build their homes in the area.
Mr Ahern said the perception that people were being denied the right to build single houses in the countryside was incorrect, as only one in five of these planning permission applications was refused.
There should be a little more leeway for building in certain disadvantaged areas where a larger population would be welcomed. "It's a case of balance," he said.
If councillors were unhappy with the balance being struck, then they should ensure they had an input into the development plans being framed in their areas.
