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406. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there are plans within his Department to support local authorities who wish to support community groups taking over derelict buildings within towns and villages to combat dereliction and improve streetscapes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47120/26]

407. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on a project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47571/26]

408. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the legislative framework to address the issue of very high or overhanging trees and hedgerows, specifically leylandii, on neighbouring properties; and if there is any planned legislation on the issue given the existence of same in other jurisdictions. [47644/26]

409. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the main recommendations outlined in the Value-for-Money Report for Local Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46824/26]

411. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will introduce a compassionate hardship clause or legislative amendment to the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme to accommodate families who have inherited a defective property from a relative who was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and subsequently passed away before they were medically o…

412. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of the conservation covenants in use in England and Wales under the Environment Act 2021; if he plans to introduce a similar scheme here in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46872/26]

414. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he will publish 2025 derelict sites levy data. [46902/26]

415. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that different definitions of dereliction are being used in the vacant and derelict property refurbishment grant and the derelict sites register; and if he will give a commitment to review the definition in order to align them in order that his Department operates a single definition of derelictio…

417. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current enforcement powers and legal tools, in his Department or related semi-State bodies, which can be used to tackle and seize abandoned or derelict vessels on inland waterways; his Department’s plans to measure the scale and scope of this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46959/2…

421. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether it is the intention of his Department to allow retained firefighters to continue to work until 65 years-of-age; if so, if he will detail the work undertaken by his Department to date; and whether he has consulted with a union (details supplied) on the matter. [47012/26]

422. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that the cost of doing the initial pyrite assessment for a homeowner is currently €3000 which is not refundable, if the home is not entered into the remediation scheme; his views on whether that this is unaffordable for many households; if he is aware of supports in place to assist with the cos…

423. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that the erection of solar panels on commercial buildings may render the surface area of those panels part of the rateable valuation of a commercial building; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47063/26]

424. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of vacancy officers and other such vacancy and dereliction-related staff in each of the 31 local authorities, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47090/26]

425. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of new HAP tenancies created in 2025; the number of these that were homeless HAP tenancies; the number that were based on the 30% financial hardship ; the number on the standard rate; and the average costs for each three categories, standard, 30% uplift, homeless HAP 50% uplift. [47103/26]

426. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if grants are available to local authorities to assist with dereliction in towns within their areas of responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47111/26]

427. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if local authorities can step in to improve the appearance of derelict shops and businesses in towns and villages within their administrative areas, where the owner might not be cooperating or where the owner may not be known, allowing an improvement in the street scape; and if he will make a statement on the matte…

428. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if grants are available to local authorities to assist with dereliction in towns within their areas of responsibility; if there are plans to create such funding; if so, the timeline involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47113/26]

429. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if local authorities can, following the CPO of derelict buildings and closed businesses, allow community groups without their own property to take on the responsibility of the CPO property; if grants are available to set up such community group pop-up shops; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47114/26]

430. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a local authority can reduce, defer or suspend a rate demand for a business within their administrative area who are taking over a former derelict building; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47119/26]

431. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if supports are available to local authorities to purchase and develop industrial and warehouse lands and estates within their administrative areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47121/26]

433. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if all funding is in place to progress the new wastewater treatment system for Beaufort village, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47129/26]

434. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the remediation scheme for apartment and duplex owners affected by fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects; the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the scheme; when payments are expected to commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47152/26]

435. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has ever considered changes to planning laws to make the provision of solar canopies mandatory when planning permission is being granted for large outdoor carparks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47159/26]

436. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to extend the current waiver on the street furniture charge, which is due to expire at the end of September 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47204/26]

437. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the cost to the Exchequer on average for the delivery of an affordable purchase home (via APF) and a cost rental (via CREL) home in 2025; and with respect to CREL the average all in cost of the unity (ie CREL plus HFA borrowing). [47255/26]

That is fine. I thank Deputies Conway-Walsh and Mac Lochlainn for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. As the Deputies will be aware, the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, which commenced on 22 June 2023, contains the current grant scheme and the related reg…

I understand the challenges. I know there is significant demand for residential placements at a level which consistently exceeds supply. We are living longer and we need to do more. I can assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to funding and to working on this. Challenges in providing these services include workforce challenges that apply to all specialist disability services, the acq…

I thank the Minister for his statement on the power of higher education, research and skills as economic enablers. This is a noble and important subject for us to consider. I will briefly recall an era when higher education was much better set up to develop the whole person who was passing through this important, exciting and memorable stage of his or her life. I first went to college in 1997. Thi…

I spoke to a developer from Waterford in advance of this debate. He is building a number of housing estates in Waterford. I am sure the Minister of State will be familiar with many of the projects. This developer mentioned to me some time ago the issues he has with ESB and Irish Water, in particular with regard to Irish Water. He was of the view that these issues are impacting on his company's abi…

This is a very important motion. We cannot build houses unless we have the necessary infrastructure in place. I have raised a number of times the failure to invest in wastewater infrastructure in a number of towns and villages across my constituency, as well as the slow delivery of projects which has stalled the delivery of housing. I raised it with the Tánaiste last week who said that investment …

I will begin by highlighting the issue of infrastructure in my county of Wexford. One of the main vital issues our country faces at present, after the provision of affordable and social housing, is energy sustainability. Rosslare Europort is the number one port for roll on, roll off PAX services in Europe. However, the delay in developing the port into Ireland's offshore renewable energy hub is ex…

I thank the Deputy. I will update the House that I have now met all of the advocacy groups representing the children, young people and families affected by spinal conditions. I thank them sincerely for their time and their honesty. I have heard directly from them about the impact that gaps in communication and long waiting times can and do have on children and families and I have assured them of m…

As the Deputy said, this has already been raised by Deputy Ahern. I am happy to say, first, that we are committed to reviewing and updating the national aviation policy, which will bring about a new policy. That will involve stakeholder consultation. Effectively, we will publish a draft in the coming months. The draft will go out to public consultation and consultation in the House, and I would ex…

I wish to comment first on a comment by Deputy Doherty regarding my colleague, Deputy Ardagh, and her non-attendance in the Chamber. Deputy Ardagh is not here; we do not know why she is not here. I do not think anybody should be commenting on that. I have tabled a question for the Tánaiste on defence in the afternoon and I cannot be here because I am attending my uncle's funeral. I do not, therefo…

I thank all Deputies for their contributions. There is general agreement in the House that outdoor seating is a good development from the point of view of the hospitality sector and the people who go to pubs and restaurants and like to sit outside. It is also fairly clear that there is broad recognition, including from myself, that the process by which we renew this for six months needs to come to…

I am sharing time with a couple of colleagues. I thank my colleague, Jen Cummins, for all her work on this motion. I also acknowledge the huge work done by parents across the country who are campaigning to get an education without religious instruction for their child. Parents should not have to campaign to get the basics for their child. I thank the Minister for attending and for her contribution…

I thank Deputy Cummins for her work on this motion and I also thank the Minister for being present and engaging with the debate. This is a very important motion. Some 60% of Irish parents have expressed a preference for multidenominational schools and it is broadly acknowledged as the way forward in education. When we consider the level of oversubscription for Educate Together schools, the demand …

In the spirit of being helpful to the Minister, what needs to step up is the performance of the Minister for housing and indeed the collective performance of Government. All of that is just verbiage that the Minister has offered up on that unit. The Minister for housing drives housing delivery. That is their job description, that is why they are on a big salary. The legislation is very clear that …

I move: Wednesday’s business shall be: - Motion re First Report of the Committee of Selection and appointment of Cathaoirligh (any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Appointment of Ordinary Members to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Motion re Dissolution of Select Committee on Subsidiarity (European Union Legislative S…

Last week I asked for a debate on the Government's housing policy or lack of it. Since then, the Government's credibility has collapsed even further with the debacle over the housing tsar. We need an emergency debate this week on housing. Does the Government agree that it is untenable for Brendan McDonagh to remain as head of NAMA when he has been using different aliases in legal documents submitt…

I apologise again to the House. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Ceann Comhairle as ucht an ama agus an deis seo a thabhairt dom. I would like to express my personal gratitude to the Ceann Comhairle, members of the Opposition and all Members for the manner in which I have been facilitated today. I thank them all. The Farrelly commission is a statutory commission of investigation established in 2017 to i…

I wish everyone today a happy May Day. Many workers across the State are looking forward to a day off on Monday; a public holiday introduced by the Labour Party to mark International Workers' Day. It is important we mark this day. Its purpose is more than just celebrating the progress made on workers' rights in the past 100 years because May Day is also when we shine a light on the continued explo…

I thank Deputy Sheehan and assure him the Government is getting along very well, and Ministers are active and busy in a whole range of areas. If there have not been sightings of different Ministers together - I will have to inquire into that - it is probably because they have been too busy doing their jobs. We are at one with regard to the need to establish a housing activation office. I very much…

On Tuesday, the Taoiseach said in this Chamber that he could not understand how €20 million had already been allocated for Cork City Council for the tenant in situ scheme. He could not understand where the money was. He did not doubt its sincerity, but he could not understand what had happened. That is a shocking admission from a Taoiseach. Let us lay out the facts here today. Cork City Council p…

The Minister of State is wrong. It is not continuing. We have a letter from Cork City Council from 4 April, stating that the tenant in situ scheme has stopped in Cork City Council. We have tenants who went into the council, looking for the forms to apply, and the council would not even give them the forms. It said that it has no money left. I read out where all the money has gone. The Minister of …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit for the response. I appreciate the work being done in our health services across the country. We have to accept that the care being provided, even though doctors, nurses and administrative staff are doing their best, is not up to what is needed in all cases. Too many people in this country are left waiting on trolleys, including in Beaumont, and left waiting for…

I thank Deputy Brennan. I addressed the URDF, CPO and the derelict sites register in my opening remarks. The other strand is obviously the vacant property refurbishment grant, which has been a hugely successful scheme. Towards the end of Q1 of 2025, more than 12,400 applications have been received under the scheme, with more than 8,600 approvals and 2,000 grants paid out to date, giving the owners…

The Land Development Agency will get more equity and support to build more houses. That will happen but that is not the full story. We have to do much more. The bottom line is we have made a step change in the past three years. From approximately 20,000 houses built in 2019, we are now building approximately 30,000 plus. Housing for All targets were exceeded but everybody said they were not high e…

I return to the Government's housing tsar and the proposal to pay this individual €430,000. Paying somebody a salary of almost €500,000 to take up the responsibilities of the housing Minister is cracked, to tell the God's honest truth. Most people who jobshare take home half a wage. The Government wants this individual to take home almost €500,000. I do not know if the Taoiseach is on a solo run i…

The Land Development Agency claims it is committed to meeting the need for affordable homes for purchase and rent across the country. In Dundalk, we have had no workable affordable housing scheme available to the people of Louth as yet. We have three sites identified at which the LDA says it can build up to 1,000 homes. To date, we have seen no real action on making this a reality. Dundalk is a th…