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682. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way national affordable housing targets are translated into binding local authority delivery expectations; whether he accepts that national figures without local allocations make accountability impossible; if he will commit to publishing county-by-county affordable housing targets on an annual basis; and if …

290. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total expenditure by his Department on social housing acquisitions in 2025; and to provide a breakdown of the number of homes purchased with this funding, by type including tenant-in-situ, vacant homes acquisition, housing first, age-friendly right sizing, and so on. [7144/26]

292. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he accepts that a growing cohort of working households in private rental accommodation are effectively excluded from both social housing, affordable housing supports and cost rental; the targeted policy responses that exist for this group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7166/26]

302. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessment which has been carried out on the impact of leaving newly built social housing units vacant on local communities housing demand and homelessness in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7180/26]

303. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the income accrued by social housing tenants renting a room in their property and availing of the rent a room tax relief is also disregarded for the purposes of calculating the social housing tenants differential rent. [7202/26]

305. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage as part of the solution to the housing crisis and in addition to allowing planning exemptions for modular homes in back gardens, to allow modular homes be given favourable consideration in the context of obtaining planning permission as a replacement for one off housing (details supplied); and if he will make …

622. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he intends to move Offaly from grade 3 of the housing income eligibility and instead place them in grade 2; if he intends to reassess the income thresholds for social housing in Offaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5652/26]

624. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average all-in cost per social housing unit delivered in 2025 under Housing for All, disaggregated by build, acquisition, and leasing. [5669/26]

630. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has examined cases in which households affected by disability exceed income thresholds for social and affordable housing supports, yet are unable to realistically access the private housing market due to reliance on a single income and reduced long-term earning capacity; and the polic…

632. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether cross-departmental work is underway to address situations in which households affected by long-term disability fall between income supports, housing supports, and access to market housing; if not, whether such an approach will be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5781/26]

658. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has considered the difficulty for single full-time workers in securing housing (details supplied); if a review will be carried out on the social housing eligibility bands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6284/26]

676. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm if the funding for the recently announced infrastructure fund to be administered by the housing delivery office, will be funded under REV programme subhead A21; to confirm that this replaced the local infrastructure housing activation fund; and the way in which the administration of this fund will dif…

148. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention had been drawn to his Department’s involvement in the production of the housing-related video published by an organisation (details supplied) prior to speaking to the Oireachtas housing committee on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5063/26]

150. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow for modular housing and low-cost sites, to address the urgent housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4551/26]

158. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of social housing acquisitions in 2024 and 2025, by acquisition type, including tenant-in-situ, vacant homeless acquisition, housing first, older persons, and so on. [4944/26]

160. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow for more one-off houses to be built to tackle the housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4552/26]

165. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the Housing Activation Office became operational; its current staffing and remit; the key targets and priority actions set for Q1 2026; the role it is playing in supporting large scale housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5028/26]

175. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to his reply on the operation of the first home scheme; his views on whether the current county-by-county price ceilings are creating significant distortions in housing delivery, particularly where counties such as Tipperary have substantially lower ceilings than neighbouring local authority areas; if …

181. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of social housing tenants in Galway city and county experiencing housing maintenance issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4966/26]

215. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the social housing income thresholds to ensure those in need of social housing support are not unfairly excluded. [4940/26]

216. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify whether he accepts that current income eligibility and salary-bracket limits may be excluding many middle-income workers in Dublin from accessing cost-rental homes, despite their inability to afford market rents; the measures being considered to revise cost-rental caps and income thresholds in high-cos…

231. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail what he is doing to expand financing for housing given the change to state aid rules under the new EU Affordable Housing Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5065/26]

253. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures his Department is taking to ensure a greater number of social housing units are purpose built to meet the needs of tenants with special needs or intellectual disabilities; the specific plans or initiatives aimed at improving accessibility and accommodation options for this group of tenants wit…

150. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures being taken to support households who are above the income threshold for social housing but remain unable to afford secure housing in the private market; if he will confirm whether a review of income thresholds is underway; if he will detail plans to expand cost-rental and affordable purchase scheme…

151. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the rationale for the application of social housing income thresholds which result in applicants being removed from local authority housing waiting lists when they exceed the threshold by a marginal amount; whether he will review these thresholds, particularly in cases involving persons with disabilities who hav…

I thank Deputy Maxwell for raising this issue on behalf of people in Cavan and Monaghan where he sees it as an issue on the ground, and it has been brought to his attention. The programme for Government and the Government's new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, commit to maintaining the right of social housing tenants to purchase their home. The aim of the tenant incremental pu…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I did not think my slot was coming up so soon. It is very tough for young couples now who are trying to purchase, build or hold onto a home. When it comes to building homes in Kerry, there are a lot of people who would build their home if they could get planning permission, but they cannot because of the strict rules with urban-generated pressure. Locals …

I am not quite sure whether the Minister genuinely believes what he is setting out and has been saying in public. Let us explain honestly what the Minister is doing. With regard to the claim that renters will get certainty from this Bill, the truth, no matter what way he tries to spin it, is that the only certainty it gives existing renters, the 250,000 households renting right now, is that their …

It is being allocated €11,000 or €12,000 per year to bring properties back into property stock. The cost of an average composite door now for a front door of a house is €2,500. That is what a person will pay. Most people have to go to the credit union for a loan to get it if they are in private houses. There are then all the criteria and laws that are there. If a house is made vacant by a local au…

We need a housing plan that is going to work. Rents are up sky high and will get higher in March. House prices are up sky high. Evictions are up sky high. There were 15,000 notices to quit and eviction notices in the first nine months of the year. We need a plan that will work. The Department has set out that County Laois has to increase its population by 35% between now and 2030. I see the Minist…

I move amendment No. 31: In page 97, to delete lines 36 and 37, and in page 98, to delete lines 1 to 19 and substitute the following: “ “Supply and construction of housing as part of a social policy. 9B. (1) In this paragraph— ‘apartment block’ means a multi-storey building that comprises, or will comprise, not less than 3 apartments with grouped or common access; ‘completed’ has the same mea…

After months of delay, it is finally here. Almost a year into this Government, it is only now publishing its housing plan. Given the amount of time this has taken, we can be forgiven for expecting something bold and new, a plan, as the Tánaiste once said himself, to once and for all tackle the housing crisis. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Anyone who will take the time to read the plan will …

I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, regarding the new initiative that will allow private sector involvement in developing wastewater systems for smaller housing developments of up to 40 homes. This initiative is a crucial step towards addressing the infrastructure deficit in rural areas, particularly in County Kerry, where housing d…

The Minister and Minister of State are both very welcome. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill, which proposes to increase the statutory borrowing limit of the HFA from €12 billion to €13.5 billion. It is a necessary step to ensure that it can continue to do what it was established to do - to finance the delivery of social and affordable homes across ou…

I will answer the question on the housing referendum now. The Housing Commission was established in December 2021 to consider housing policy post 2030 and make proposals building on Housing for All. It was also tasked with advising the Government on the critical factors to be considered regarding a referendum on housing and, if appropriate, to recommend wording for a constitutional change. The co…

I thank the Deputy for her question and the clarification. The Government has scaled up affordable housing delivery rapidly across all tenures since 2022 and continues to accelerate housing supply. Cost rental is a key element of the Government's strategy to improve affordability in the rental sector and to provide secure, long-term homes for moderate income households above the income limits for …

A person would not recognise this budget from the pre-election and electioneering that went on in Fine Gael last year. This budget has much more to do with the election cycle and the fact that there will not be an election for a number of years. It is important to remember what Fine Gael and its leader Simon Harris said last November in terms of making work pay. Has this promise been delivered on …

Deputy Daly is also correct in terms of the development of the grid and off-site and modern methods of construction. We are driving that because that will also be key in accelerating the construction of housing. On the rezoning issue, there are legislative options available to the Minister to mandate - he has already instructed, but to go ahead and get it done - but, ideally, the councillors, wit…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on an issue that is of significant importance and has widespread impact throughout our society. It is the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The purpose of keeping this issue in the public domain and discussing it within the Houses of the Oireachtas is to ensure that we can identify the appropriate measures to combat it. This is an a…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this very important motion today. I am sure there is not one person in the Dáil who saw the documentary who was not disgusted by the way our elderly were being treated. If big businesses are treating our elderly in such a terrible way, we must ensure we do all we can so that this does not continue. That said, we cannot tar everybody with the one brush…

I wish to discuss housing maintenance, in particular the impact of mould and damp on tenants of social housing in my constituency and throughout the country. It is an area I have worked in for almost two decades in an academic capacity doing research on the impact of mould and damp on residents and tenants and working with communities. Mould and damp are endemic across social housing in this city …

With regard to the overall changes proposed by the Minister recently, I compliment him on the balance he has struck. The Opposition will always try to pit landlords against tenants, and have the narrative around tenants versus landlords. We have to focus on both groups and that is the reality. This is about increasing housing supply and we have to deal with the needs of tenants and landlords. The …

I welcome the opportunity to discuss nursing homes and the care of older people. To begin, I want to acknowledge the "RTÉ Investigates" programme that was broadcast on 4 June. This was a very hard-hitting and harrowing programme which highlighted a litany of poor care standards in two nursing homes, showing clear neglect and abuse of older people, namely, the Residence, Portlaoise, and Beneavin Ma…

Housing is the single greatest issue facing my generation. I start with an issue I have raised in this Chamber a number of times, and will continue to raise, which is modern methods of construction, modular homes, log cabins or whatever we want to call them. I recognise the Minister of State's position on it. I welcome the work done to date by Government on planning exemptions relating to backyard…

I thank Deputy McGrath for raising the important issue around expectations for the delivery of affordable housing this year. I know it is a matter that is important to the Deputy. The Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. In 2024, more than 7,000 affordable housing options were delivered nationwide b…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of expectations for the delivery of affordable housing in 2025. I also thank him for his ongoing engagement on this issue, which is one he campaigned very strongly on. The Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. In 2024, more than 7,000 affordable hous…

I thank Sinn Féin for this extremely important motion. In the majority of towns and cities across the country, there are very serious difficulties with public infrastructure and this is having a knock-on effect on the development of housing. The provision of housing is by far the greatest issue of our time and of our generation as politicians. I am a 25-year-old still living at home, like an enorm…

Like the previous speaker, I support this Sinn Féin motion. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, in its report last October, stated that there are obvious areas where Ireland's infrastructure is much underdeveloped. The key areas to which it referred were housing, health, transport and electricity. It stated that when one compares Ireland's infrastructure with that of other high-income European coun…

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak about the provision of housing and affordable houses. I do not know how there is so much talk about affordable houses because no house is affordable now with the cost of materials, the cost of labour and the shortage of labour. I must speak about the number of vacant houses around the county of Kerry in towns and villages and between villages. Take the roa…

His horses came first, second, third, fifth and seventh. It was huge. I know there was a fantastic celebration and homecoming last night in Closutton and Leighlinbridge. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend as I was in Dublin. It is an achievement that needs to be acknowledged formally in the House. He is a fantastic ambassador and like me, has strong Kilkenny connections, being originally from…