The number of houses built this year looks set to reach an all-time high, with official figures for the first six months already showing a 21 per cent increase.
The number of houses built by local authorities are likely to exceed last year's figures, said Mr Noel Ahern, Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, with 35,957 houses being completed so far this year.
Figures from the Department of the Environment and Local Government show that there have been over 8,000 local authority houses built in Dublin in the first six months of 2004, up 26 per cent on the same period last year.
In the Greater Dublin Area there were 12,798 homes built between January and June, a 23 per cent increase on the corresponding period in 2003.
House completions in Cork were 20 per cent ahead for the the first half of the year. However, Galway, with 2,314 completions compared to 2,405 for the first six months last year, showed a 3.8 per cent decrease.
In 2003 there was a record number of houses built (68,819), but Mr Ahern said he expects this figure will be exceeded this year.
"Indications for 2004 suggest that house completions will exceed the level achieved in 2003, resulting in the 10th successive record year for completions.
"These figures continue to demonstrate that the Government measures introduced in recent years have been successful in boosting the supply of housing to meet the unprecedented demand caused by population and economic growth, and changing patterns in migration and household formation.
"The increased level of activity following on from last year's highest ever level of new house building is a tremendous achievement. In the medium term it would be important to see a convergence between supply and demand," said Mr Ahern.
On a local level, Fingal County Council built the most houses - 4,115 for the first six months this year. Longford County Council had the lowest number at 255. Cork County Council built 3,078; Donegal 1,302 and Kilkenny 1,675.
Earlier this month figures were published showing that new housing starts topped 25,000 in the first six months of the year.
Homebond, the building industry warranty scheme, indicated that the number of starts registered with them was 26,454 in the six months to the end of June, an 8 per cent increase on 2003, and the highest number in the past five years.