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436. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he intends to increase the income thresholds for social housing support in 2025 to bring them in line with general wage/income increases since they were last adjusted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5826/25]

440. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if plans to extend the temporary waiver in respect of development contributions payable to local authorities for building a house in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5876/25]

441. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he will consider increasing the threshold of the housing aid for older people grant to cover the cost of installation of non-fossil fuel heat sources, further to the changes in the criteria of the grant which prohibit funding of installation fossil fuel boilers; and if he will make a statement on the ma…

447. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to list all approved housing body social and cost rental development proposals that are currently with his Department waiting initial approval, with a breakdown by local authority, number of units and length of time a decision has been pending. [5993/25]

448. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of staff sanction requests for housing staff currently awaiting decision with his Department, with a breakdown by local authority. [5995/25]

451. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider a waiver in respect of development contributions for houses being built in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6040/25]

462. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there is any policy to ensure that approved housing bodies repair any damage done to neighbouring properties as a consequence of insufficient maintenance (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6211/25]

465. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if any EU directive on oil boilers/boiler replacement is affecting those availing of housing adaptation grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6221/25]

471. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of appeals for County Clare have been assessed by the Housing Agency under the defective concrete block scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6301/25]

474. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actions he will take to ensure that single parent families that do not qualify for any existing housing scheme or payment can be supported in finding suitable accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6404/25]

42. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance to outline the role of the housing unit within his Department making specific reference to their role in advising and informing the Minister on all matters related to housing including in year targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5086/25]

206. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on funding for repair of void local authority houses (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5351/25]

208. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to extend the temporary waiver in respect of development levies to local authorities for those building houses in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5386/25]

211. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will extend the temporary waiver in respect of development contributions to local authorities for those building houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5401/25]

218. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will extend the waiver in respect of development contributions of €4,200 for new house builds, which has been a huge help to potential homeowners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5438/25]

219. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to consider the introduction of additional supports for middle-income public sector workers, such as teachers and special needs assistants, who do not qualify for social housing but remain unable to secure a mortgage due to high property prices and lending restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the m…

181. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will publish a social housing Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4990/25]

182. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he intends to revise the income limits for social housing eligibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4991/25]

327. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if there are any plans for Údarás na Gaeltachta to be given statutory powers and resources for it to establish a housing section, to enable it to purchase land, obtain planning permission and provide necessary services in order to develop housing for Irish speakers. [4549/25]

329. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if there are plans to develop a Gaeltacht population and housing strategy for each Gaeltacht language planning area with clear, measurable targets to ensure the sustainable growth of the Gaeltacht communities and to ensure an appropriate supply of housing to support that growth. [4552/25]

355. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the Housing Agency continues to downgrade the recommendations of engineers acting for homeowners under the defective concrete block grant scheme, applying the I.S. 465 when that standard is soon to be significantly amended by the NSAI. [4107/25]

358. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when legislation will be changed in order to facilitate the retrospective payment of the rate and cap increases to participants in the ‘enhanced defective concrete block scheme’; if the increases will be applied to the small number of houses that have completed works; and if he will make a statement on the matte…

366. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of social housing properties acquired through the tenant-in-situ scheme and the cost rental tenant in-situ-scheme, respectively since their inception. [4420/25]

372. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the recent Housing Commission report and to outline if a working group will be established to facilitate the implementation of the report. [4559/25]

379. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of homes that went sale agreed in 2024; how many of these were apartments and how many were houses; the number bought by individuals; the number bought by institutions; the number bought by local authorities; how many of the individuals that bought these homes were first-time buyers; and if he…

I thank the Deputy. He will be aware that dereliction is front and centre of what I am trying to tackle as Minister for housing. The introduction of a derelict property tax, DPT, was announced in budget 2026 and the collection of this new tax will be the responsibility of the Revenue Commissioners, as set out in action 4.1 of the Government's new national housing strategy, Delivering Homes, Buildi…

They do not. I have spoken to them. Their officials were in front of the housing committee even before Deputy Browne was the Minister and told us they do not have the staff or resources. What the Minister is saying here now is different. Some €26 million is owed. The amount went up by €6 million in 2025 and it will go up by at least the same amount again in 2026. That means €32 million regarding h…

I warmly welcome the Minister's announcement on 4 November that there will now be a key role for the private sector in developing wastewater treatment plants. This obviously means there will be a huge increase in the number of houses and, more importantly, there will be more affordable houses brought through to fruition. I fully understand there will be strict regulations and compliance required a…

We hope to be in a position to announce the allocations for 2026 shortly. As I said, we have increased the funding this year by €30 million, a 30% increase, one of largest increases in any spending items, because it is of such importance. Again, it feeds into keeping people living at home independently. Deputy Ó Murchú mentioned particular cases and he might come to me with them. They may involve …

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]

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The Minister has still not clarified when he first knew of the video. Could he clarify that, please? At the housing committee when I asked him directly about it, he set out four times that the Department of housing did not have any involvement in the video. He repeated that three times. Can the Minister clarify now and make a statement that the Department of housing …

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]

I thank Deputy Kelly for his leadership on this issue. I acknowledge his Bill and thank him for the role the committee he chairs is playing in this regard. I, too, commend Gráinne Seoige on going before the committee. In recent times, what we have seen in relation to Grok and the use of AI to undress and produce nudified images is dehumanising, degrading and disgusting. There absolutely is an onus…

This Bill is a mixed bag. There are some positive changes and some technical ones that will add efficiencies and so on, but we have some serious concerns about it. I commend Margaret Loftus from County Mayo on her bravery. Margaret suffered horrendous domestic violence. She stated to the media this week that the judicial process was as traumatising and damaging as the abuse itself. She is an incr…

I thank all 13 Deputies for their contributions this afternoon. I also want to acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of survivors of sexual assault and rape and representatives of survivors and, indeed, representatives of those advocating for a disregard scheme. I hope the debate has been sensitive in terms of what they have had to listen to and I hope it has been in some way illuminating. Gene…

I thank Deputy O'Hara for raising this important matter and providing me with an opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. It is important to point out that under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, the Minister with responsibility for planning is precluded from exercising any power or control in rel…

Once again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and giving me the opportunity to give an update on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. As I previously stated, under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act, the Minister with responsibility for planning is precluded from exercising any power of control in relation to a particular c…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to introduce the River Boyne Task Force Bill to the House. The Bill seeks to establish a committee of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly to serve as a River Boyne task force with the function of proposing and promoting policies and priorities for the protection and enhancement of the environment of the River Boyne and of its …

I thank the Labour Party and colleagues on all sides of the House who made really important contributions. It is has been a very fair and balanced debate on the pros and cons, as there always are with these matters, of the proposals before the House. As set out by the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in moving the amendment to the motion, the Government is committed to delivering sustainable t…

There are 3,000 people on the scheme. I am one of them. Some 300 houses have been built and another 300 are going through that process. At this rate, it will be 150 years before we get 10,000 houses done and we have 25,000 to do. Materials are coming in that IS 465 needs to recognise. That is where the fault is. The appeals board is independent in name only. There is an issue with that, which I wi…

We are told time and time again by this Government that water services have been improving, that everything is now under control and that Uisce Éireann is fit for purpose. In fact, Uisce Éireann is so content with the job it is doing that it gave €21,000 in bonuses for good performances, no less, in 2024 to hundreds of its highest paid executives, some already earning over €200,000 a year. If Uisc…

The first thing I wish to speak about are the ancient wastewater systems in parts of County Kerry. I could list six or seven villages, such as Ballyduff, Fenit, Glenbeigh, Kilcummin, Abbeydorney and Castlegregory in particular, where, in effect, although some progress has been made in Kilcummin, we have a hole in the ground. In Castlegregory, it is within 40 yd of a school building. In Fenit and …

I thank the Minister for his speech. To try to be somewhat constructive, we had good news from the Government this week with the €250 million announcement in my constituency into water treatment in Bunlicky near Mungret, County Limerick. That is important because once the work is done the capacity of that plant will be able to serve 285,000 people. This is more than double what it can do at the mo…

The issue of unfinished estates is something the Minister is familiar with. It is taking an inordinate amount of time for estates to be taken in charge, particularly some of the older ones where I appreciate there are some difficulties. Mostly the hold-up is down to Uisce Éireann. County councils, unusually, have come to the table on this and have said they are anxious to take estates in charge, y…

The Minister of State may be surprised because I am going to start by saying something positive. I commend the Minister, Deputy Browne, who has listened to people from the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenches since coming to office, particularly about initiating developer-led infrastructure and facilitating future housing development. It is a no-brainer that many of us have called for for many ye…

I acknowledge the significant work being delivered by the Minister, Deputy Browne, the Minister of State and the accelerated infrastructure programme brought forward by the Minister, Deputy Chambers. That programme is about unlocking funding, removing bottlenecks and clearing whatever is holding up progress on critical infrastructure projects. This work is welcome and necessary. However, the reali…

I am thankful for the opportunity this evening. I commend the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Browne, in particular for the initiative to work with developers on wastewater and to accelerate the delivery of housing. That is something that we would have raised in Meath in various meetings with Uisce Éireann over the years. I also commend the water caretakers in Meath County Council, who …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 28, inclusive, together. The Department of the Taoiseach's annual report for 2024 was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in October of last year. I hope everybody has read it. The report sets out the work of the Department in 2024 to achieve the strategic priorities identified in its statement of strategy and to support the implementation of the progra…

They want more housing. They want more affordable and social housing and to enable people to either buy or rent at affordable prices. We need to get supply up. I think some of Deputy Boyd Barrett's policies would depress supply. That is where we differ. We need to get supply to 50,000 or 60,000 per annum. I think a lot of what the Deputy has articulated over the years would depress supply. It is n…

The debate around this is very important. I generally welcome the Bill, which is important. Safeguards for users and providers are important. That it covers the care of both the elderly and those with disabilities is the crux of this. However, there are issues around provision and standards that we need to keep an eye on as well as the availability of home help hours and home care hours. We have c…