The Government yesterday defended its plan to provide 10,000 affordable houses after it emerged that work has yet to begin on any of the houses.
The housing plan, aimed at first-time buyers who cannot afford a house, helped bolster support for the Sustaining Progress pay deal when it was announced last January.
However, the Government yesterday said it was a four-year scheme which could not be delivered overnight and that all interest groups, including unions, were aware of this.
Nevertheless, Fine Gael's environment spokesman, Mr Bernard Allen, accused the Government of just using the housing deal as a "a ploy to secure workers' acceptance of the new pay deal when it was heading for collapse".
A spokesman for the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, said: "There is a promise to build 10,000 houses, but not in a year. Land has to be selected, there is a rigorous planning process, there is the procurement of the developer. Each project will take time."
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, announced in June this year that more than 300 acres of State land in Dublin, Kildare and Meath would be freed-up for the building of affordable houses aimed at first-time buyers.
The plan will work by handing over State land to local authorities or associated agencies, which will be charged with ensuring houses are made available for sums that do not include the usual in-built land prices.
The affordable housing scheme is separate to social housing schemes which are aimed at individuals on local authority housing waiting lists.
While the full details of those eligible for the scheme remain to be worked out, officials say those eligible will have to be within a certain income range and a lottery is likely to be used to allocate the houses. The income range for existing affordable housing initiatives in the Dublin area has been around €32,000 for single persons, or €80,000 for a couple.
The housing initiative originally surfaced among officials in the ICTU.
