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245. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has examined the potential for a nationally supported and professionally managed home sharing programme to increase the use of underoccupied homes in order to provide affordable accommodation and support for older people to age in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5375…

246. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the proposed changes to planning exemption regulations; the timeline for these changes to be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53785/26]

249. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of a practice of local authorities advising prospective applicants that they will not consider two-bedroom properties for the local authority tenant in situ purchase scheme; if this policy is based on a direction from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53800/26]

250. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeframe for a review of IS 465:2026 to be completed; when the technical reviews will commence; when those affected by pyrite and seeking a technical review can expect an outcome to their review; if he will commit to expediting this process in recognition of the delays already faced by these homeowners; and…

251. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the specific timeline for the signing and enactment of the Building Standards Agency (Establishment) Order; the precise calendar month in the second half of 2026 targeted for the formal launch of the interim Building Standards Agency; the projected timeline for the publication of the general scheme of the Bill t…

252. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the range of topics covered and the outcome of his discussions in Cork with Members of the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53917/26]

255. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total annual cost of all home purchasing assistance schemes, including the help to buy scheme, Local Authority affordable purchase scheme, LDA affordable purchase scheme, the first home scheme, local authority home loan, all local authority tenant purchase schemes, including in foregone revenue. [539…

256. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of allowances paid under the mortgage allowance scheme in each of the years 2015 to 2025 and to date in 2026, broken down by local authority, in tabular form; the total Exchequer expenditure under the scheme in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53987/26]

259. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the programme for Government commitment to establish a regulator for owners’ management companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54024/26]

260. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when section 5 of the Electoral Act 2022 will be commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54025/26]

261. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding provided for CPO of properties; and the number of properties CPOed in each of the past five years, by local authority, in tabular form. [54079/26]

262. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he will publish data on the derelict sites levies collected in 2025. [54080/26]

263. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of issues identified by stock audits; the number of units for which issues were identified; and the estimated cost of these works. [54081/26]

264. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of the €16million allocated for planned maintenance that has been spent on stock audits to date; and the amount spent on addressing works identified by these audits. [54082/26]

268. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of funded cost rental units to be delivered in Cork in each of the next three years, in tabular form. [54149/26]

269. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of applicants for Rebuilding Ireland Home Loans/local authority home loans from Cork in 2026 to date; the total number that have been successful; the total number that have been refused; the average time from application to decision, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter…

270. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the Voids Programme is currently open for applications; the number of applications approved to date in 2026; and the overall amount provided, by local authority. [54151/26]

271. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of mortgage to rent applications to date in 2026 through AHBs, local authorities and any private provider respectively. [54158/26]

272. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on legislative amendments to allow for the renaming of streets. [54178/26]

273. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of WTE vacant homes officers employed, by local authority, in tabular form. [54179/26]

274. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of people employed in the vacant homes unit in his Department in each of the past five years, by grade. [54180/26]

275. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount spent on private planning consultancy firms by his Department, to date in 2026. [54183/26]

276. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of persons employed in planning roles in his Department. [54184/26]

277. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount allocated under URDF funding, by project; and the amount drawn down to date in 2026, in tabular form. [54185/26]

279. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has considered expanding the eligibility of the defective concrete block grant scheme to homes that are not a person’s principal private residence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54246/26]

I am not asking for more supports. I know there have been a lot of them, and I am proud of some of the supports in the budget. I am asking whether the Department is examining a tiered tax system based on turnover per business, say, €300,000 to €400,000, based on the differentiation in their turnover. The Minister spoke about supporting entrepreneurs. The current wage subsidy scheme needs to be re…

I enjoy these rare moments of agreement between Deputy Gould and me. He often shouts at me from the other side of the House and the odd time I shout back as well. As we come up to the Christmas period, it is nice to have a rare moment of harmony so let us cherish that. We are having this rare moment of harmony because we both recognise that dereliction is a real scourge. Deputy Nash made this poin…

The Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Browne, have said that this tax will get more derelict sites turned into housing delivery, which I support. If housing delivery is not happening, the tax must hurt those who are abusing their communities. When I walk around a brilliant European city like Dublin, I look at the dereliction. It is the same in my own city of Cork. It drags the whole city and commu…

I thank the Minister of State very much for his reply. We are all aware of the importance of the seniors alert scheme. It has been a life-saving scheme for many people, not just in rural communities but also in urban areas. I am glad to hear that so many people have taken it up since it was launched in 2015, and that the Department is launching a new scheme in 2026. In launching the new scheme i…

As the Deputy will be aware, this year we changed the payment under the accommodation recognition payment, ARP, from €800 per month to €600 per month. I know there were concerns about that change as to what impact it would have on those individuals being accommodated. I am pleased to say it has not had, in our opinion, a significantly detrimental impact and has not led to very many people who were…

The Deputy’s cacophony of assistance here is great. What was implied is obviously not reflective of how a programme for Government works. To the people at home, I say we have a programme for Government that commits to what we are going to do over five years. It is a published document, available on gov.ie. We have only delivered budget one of five. The Deputy will be pleased to know there will be …

Surely, the Deputy would acknowledge that, while we would like to see inflation fall further, that inflation both in Ireland and in the eurozone is at a much lower level than it was when those cost-of-living packages were brought in. The inflation was off the Richter scale for a period. It may be the Deputy's position, and in fairness to him I think it is as he is quite clear about it, that he wan…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time". I am pleased to introduce the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 to the House. It was initiated in the Seanad on 14 November and passed through the final Stages there on 26 November. I look forward to hearing Deputies' contributions and I hope they will support this Bill. Officials from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport will…

I sincerely thank Deputies from the Labour Party for raising this important issue. It is an area on which I and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, are placing a strong and deliberate focus. As I listen to Deputies from the Labour Party going back over the history of this, I recall that they did so in partnership with Fine Gael and that we stood together to introduce many important social change…

It has been suggested that this motion is not called for and that other, more important issues should be raised. To that, I tell Deputies to look around them. This is a big Chamber with over 170 Deputies. The spectrum of issues we all raise is massive. I have spent my time in this Dáil raising various issues that affect this country. I would never suggest that one of these issues is more important…

It is important that we discuss this and that we do so thoroughly. At this time of the year we are more conscious than ever of this issue. Many of us are homeowners and we live in our homes. A lot of us here also rent. We have bills during the summer but as we face the winter a different set of costs often come onstream from a gas perspective, and this puts it back on homeowners. In recent years w…

I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on how yesterday was dealt with. Fair play to her. Bhí sé iontach. We all know that families are struggling and I heard from across the House, when I was upstairs in my office listening to this debate, about the soaring energy costs and the thousands of people in arrears. I want to push something towards the Minister of State. I am on the climate and energy comm…

In the short time I have, I would like to raise a number of issues that have been raised here before, but I would like to see them addressed. In Kilkenny city over the weekend, a family - a husband and wife and two children, one of the children a special child - became homeless. They rang all of the telephone numbers to seek help and there was no answer. That is the basic failure of bureaucracy, o…

The average price of a house sold last year was €426,000. This is eight times the average income at the moment. The average rental price for a two-bedroom apartment at the moment in this State is over €2,000. It is an incredible situation. We talk about the homeless figures and we do not realise how serious it is. A total of 402 people have died in homelessness just in Dublin in a five-year period…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 11, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “(a) in section 10(2), by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b): “(c) act with fiduciary responsibility to the participants in the scheme in the discharge of its functions.”,”. This amendment follows on from our discussion on Committee Stage regarding board composition and the responsib…

I suppose any movement is to be welcomed if we are going to make changes that are desperately needed regarding the housing market. We need to support any measure that can do that as long as it is a common-sense issue. The problem I have is where the changes are going to be made. Sometimes, even before you go ahead anywhere, you have to go back. If you look at the actions of Uisce Éireann, we have…

I move the following Supplementary Estimates: Vote 7 — Office of the Minister for Finance (Supplementary Estimate). That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2025, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Finance, including the Paymaster General’s Of…

A Uachtarán Zelenskyy, a Cheann Comhairle agus a dhaoine uaisle, President Zelenskyy, Ceann Comhairle and distinguished guests, on behalf of Members of both Houses and on my own behalf, I thank you for being here today at the heart of our democracy, and for the address delivered to this joint sitting of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. In 2022, when I had the privilege of giving the closing remar…

As my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, said, this amendment is long overdue. It is symptomatic of the Government. It has been two years since it was asked to look at the costs and it is a year on from the general election when it said it was going to bring it in. We are taking this legislation now, legislation that was published at 10 o'clock this morning. This shows how much the Government cares …

We were told time and time again that this is a 100% redress scheme but it is not. What we see before us again today is evidence of that. The scheme is not fit for purpose and the evidence is there for anyone to look at. Behind every fact, figure and departmental line lies a human story of families who suffer every day. They are families who wonder every time Met Éireann issues a warning if this i…

I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising this point. I am aware of the joint committee's report regarding Lady's Island Lake and I am working closely with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Sullivan, who is leading the Government's engagement in this area. My Department, along with Teagasc experts, are centrally engaged in the interdepartmental Lady’s Island oversight group led by Wexford C…

Deputy Gould should hang on a second and give me a chance. It now stands at 62% of properties, which affects more than six out of ten people. It also finds the benefit of the rent pressure zones because it finds that, where rents have increased, it is disproportionately in areas not covered by rent pressure zones. Deputy Doherty likes to talk a lot about what has happened since the election. What…

Let me correct the record: we have an excellent Minister who is working very hard but housing is also a whole-of-government issue. The Minister, Deputy Browne, recently published, with me, the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, a new national housing plan that involves every part of the State, realising everybody has a role to play in the housing emergency, including our local au…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann resolves that the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025 be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for further consideration of the Bill.". This is to allow for sufficient time for full consideration of the Bill and for the development of Government proposals before the end …

I thank everybody for their contributions. I have listened very carefully to what people have had to say. The debate has been constructive but we need to move from discussion and debate to action. I will be pressing the Bill because I think we have kicked to touch too many times on this already. The Minister of State mentioned that significant progress has been made; it has not. She mentioned that…