Search the Dáil record

280. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will commit to publishing an annual housing affordability report, benchmarking average house prices, average incomes, mortgage serviceability ratios, and availability of homes by region, to ensure transparency in policy-making. [53117/25]

298. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with regard to the 'Section 28 Guidelines - NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements' which issued in July 2025 and which contain the new annual housing supply targets for all local authorities, which display targets that appear in the final two columns of Appendix 1 on p.14, one column covering the peri…

315. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps being taken, and the support being offered, by his Department, to local authorities to hasten the turnaround of void and vacant local authority housing making them available for use by housing applicants. [53730/25]

316. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the compilation of a central database within his Department of all social and affordable housing capital projects delivered or being delivered under its housing programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53798/25]

321. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans to adjust the social housing income limits upwards to reflect house inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52691/25]

82. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is aware that the measurement 'consistent poverty' obscures the full number of people both at risk of poverty and in material deprivation; if he is aware that 'consistent poverty' fails to account for housing costs; if he will consider using both 'material deprivation' and 'at risk of poverty after housing costs' as alternat…

283. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage , further to Parliamentary Question No. 276 of 1 October 2024, if he has engaged with the Housing Agency to ensure that it is actually adhering to this guideline (details supplied); if he is aware that 86 affected homeowners in Donegal, who have had their Government-approved engineer’s recommendation fo…

295. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when additional funding will be provided in 2025 to Cavan County Council for the housing aid for older people grant, the housing adaptation grant for people with a disability and the mobility aids grant scheme. [51088/25]

376. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage given the Summary Social Housing Assessment 2025 for Cork city, the current net need figure; the number of households who remain without social housing support; the steps he is taking to accelerate delivery in high-demand areas around Cork city, Glanmire, Blarney and Mallow. [49846/25]

622. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on his plans for further funding of local authorities for the housing adaptation grant schemes and increasing housing adaptation and mobility and access grant amounts to cover the cost of disability adaptations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47645/25]

624. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has reviewed the affordable housing scheme and issues arising from it; if any further affordable housing is due to come on stream in county Louth in the next 12-months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47647/25]

630. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail the plans to deal with the change in CAS funding now being part of the overall local authority social housing acquisition fund and not as easily accessible for disability approved housing bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47653/25]

644. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has assessed the impact of bulk-purchasing by State housing agencies on market prices for new homes; the number of homes purchased directly from developers by approved housing bodies and local authorities in each of the past five years; and whether measures are being considered to ensure first-t…

645. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail the proportion of newly built housing units in 2024 and 2025 that were purchased by State agencies or approved housing bodies, as opposed to being made available for private sale; and his views on the implications for first-time buyers. [47948/25]

654. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost per unit of new build social housing delivered in 2024 by social housing investment programme, by type (details supplied), in tabular form. [48022/25]

661. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to urgently amend the National Planning Framework and the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines, 2005 as county development plans are aligned with these national policies which prohibits many applicants building a family home on their own land and-or buying a site and building a permanent place of residence aro…

668. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the means by which his Department is addressing the role of high housing costs in driving child poverty; and whether he accepts that housing affordability is now a primary driver of deprivation among families. [48348/25]

670. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether Cork City Council and Cork County Council will receive proportionate infrastructure funding to deliver on regional housing targets, given the concentration of new housing spend in Dublin. [48388/25]

673. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the role the newly established Housing Activation Office will play in assisting local authorities to meet the housing targets set out in the Revised National Planning Framework; and the way in which this will accelerate delivery in areas of high demand. [48551/25]

676. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way his Department is working with other Government departments and agencies to address labour capacity constraints in the construction sector; and the measures being considered to ensure that workforce availability does not become a bottleneck in achieving housing targets under Housing for All. [48567/25]

678. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on the implementation of the Modern Methods of Construction Action Plan; and the way these innovations are being integrated into public housing delivery under Housing for All. [48570/25]

692. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of households currently on the social housing list in counties Sligo and Leitrim; the number of households on the social housing transfer list in counties Sligo and Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48755/25]

707. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to the legislative observations made by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in relation to the general scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024; if he is aware of the Commission’s recommendations (details supplied); the steps or actions including engag…

1129. Deputy Seán Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to increase the income thresholds for social housing, as many working families who are not on high incomes are excluded from applying for social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44855/25]

1137. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if, in respect of the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 and the tenant incremental purchase scheme 2016, a council tenant can purchase the property they currently reside in if it is an apartment, flat or duplex; if this differs, by local authority; and if he will make a statement on the m…

One unfortunate phenomenon in recent years has been the conflation in people's minds of prefabricated housing and modular housing. High-quality modular housing is a permanent housing solution. Prefabricated models like the prefabs provided for Ukrainian refugees were expensive and had a poor BER rating of C. These modern modular housing units are permanent solutions and are extremely energy effici…

This is a topic that many of us have tried to get speaking time on over the past few weeks so I appreciate the attendance of the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell. My first point concerns Irish Water. It is probably a major bone of contention for the vast majority of Members across the Oireachtas. I always think it is good to localise and individualise things to give a picture of how thin…

I will continue from where my colleague, Deputy Sheehan, left off. What the Government intends to do if it implements all the recommendations from the Department of housing is turn a scheme, albeit an imperfect one, that was keeping people out of homelessness into a zombie scheme. It will be a scheme that exists in name but that is not practical and does not help people stay out of homelessness. T…

I wish to echo, without repeating, some of the points made by Deputy Hearne about homelessness. The parliamentary reporters could nearly copy and paste his words into my speech. I am not being trite in saying that. The biggest housing issue that is raised in the emails that come into my inbox every week relate to threatened evictions and homelessness. I congratulate the Minister and his team on th…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Housing Commission's report. The commission commenced its work in January 2023 and published its report in May 2024. It has taken this long for the Government, under pressure, to put it on the clár oibre agus díospóireacht a bheith againn faoin tuarascáil thábhachtach sin. The commission had 14 members, five sub-committees and six working groups. It held 2…

I thank everybody who has contributed to this very important debate. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, stated at the outset, this Government is absolutely committed to building more homes in Ireland. We are working continuously to meet the challenge to design and implement policies that shift the dial on delivery and to review and improve our approach where we identify obstacles…

I appreciate the Minister coming in for the last ten minutes of the debate. I look forward to hearing from him the reason he was not here earlier. I believe, in all fairness, that it is disrespectful for the Minister to claim he was present for a debate when he arrived in at the very end. It is indicative of a Government that is unwilling to listen to new ideas. When this country was dirt poor, t…

I move amendment No. 24: In page 15, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “Social housing assessment: transfer and recognition 11.The Act of 2009 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 20B (inserted by section 8): “Social housing passport 20C.(1) Where a housing authority (in this section referred to as the ‘assessing authority’) has determined under …

I echo what Deputy Ó Broin has outlined, which is the Opposition’s extreme disappointment at the pace at which this Bill is being rushed through. It does not take seriously the role of Parliament. It is also extremely frustrating that the Government gives out and complains that the Opposition does not come forward with solutions when the key point - the only point, really - at which we have a real…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo inniu. I thank him and his officials for the detailed briefing we received on the Bill. It is a long and technical Bill. One aspect of it is that it seeks to raise the borrowing limit of the Housing Finance Agency, which is fine. However, the other aspects are quite technical and detailed. Deputy Ó Broin alluded to a recurring theme across Depa…

Cuirim fáilte aireach roimh an mBille seo. Níl mé cinnte go bhfuil gach rud atá sa Bhille i gceart. Tá roinnt fadhbanna agam leis freisin. I give a cautious welcome to the Bill. I recognise what it is attempting to do but I want to raise a couple of issues with the Minister of State. The first one is something I raise in general about legislation, which is a drafting issue. It is not specific to p…

I will raise two issues. The first is the issue of policing. It is deeply disappointing that there has been a reduction in Garda resources across the country as a result of the EU Presidency. In my own constituency, Ballymun and Finglas Garda stations will see a reduction in the coming months as a result of gardaí being allocated elsewhere in relation to the Presidency. There is a feud ongoing in …

I have huge sympathy for the people affected by this in Donegal, Mayo, Clare, Limerick and other areas because I live in an area where we had the blight of pyrite. So many housing estates in our area were affected because the quarry was situated there. It did not regulate itself and there was a lack of Government regulation. Thousands of people were impacted by this and I campaigned on it and held…

My colleague has spoken about the positives and negatives of AI. I want to concentrate more on the technicalities of the Bill. I want to be clear from the outset what this Bill is and what it is not. Whatever we are being told it is certainly not a modest piece of housekeeping. Indeed, it is a scaffolding for an entire, new, State-run, artificial intelligence regulator, a Bill which now has 139 s…

Yes, but thank you for the encouragement. My amendment No. 3 is very similar to amendment No. 1 from Deputy Doherty. There is a slight difference in that I am being move generous in the timeline being afforded to the Minister to make this report. The fundamental point here is that the public has a right to know. They should get this information. I made the point on Committee Stage that, with NAMA…

I thank the Minister of State for taking this issue on behalf of the Minister for housing. Arklow is a fine coastal town with Viking heritage but for a long time, its infrastructural development had been held back because of the lack of wastewater capacity. In May of last year, the Taoiseach opened the Arklow wastewater treatment plant, a €139 million project. It was completed six months ahead of …

Without question, when you analyse the figures and talk to people, population growth is a key area, but we also need to respond in terms of social housing, for example. We are building more houses in direct builds per annum now than since the foundation of the State. Last year, over 9,000 social houses alone were built. Ultimately, the provision of increased social housing is the best route to dea…

For decades, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have neglected Dublin city's and county's flat communities. I am talking about inner-city flat complexes like Pearse House, Oliver Bond House, St. Michan's House and Dolphin House but also suburban schemes like Cromcastle Court in Coolock and Balgaddy in my constituency. These are strong, vibrant and resilient communities that have been utterly failed by succ…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I welcome the opportunity to bring the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 forward for consideration by the Dáil today. The Bill is a central pillar of the Government’s infrastructure reforms. While its impact will be wide-ranging, it is a very clear and focused piece of legislation that is to the point. Its objective is to accelerate the provision…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. As Chairman of the Joint Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery, I welcome this particular discussion and look forward to this legislation going to the committee. As Chairman, I will ensure we have a thorough, effective and detailed discussion on Committee Stage. We will have ample time for any issues that need to be raise…

I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this matter and for the opportunity to update the Dáil on the modification and expansion of the buy and renew scheme. I am taking this question on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Department has a number of schemes in place targeted at increasing the supply of social housing and working towards ending dereliction. That is …

I do not know where to start. There are a huge number of issues and the lads opposite will be familiar with them, given that they are the cause of most of them. We are here to discuss the specific issue of homelessness. I want to talk about hidden homelessness. There is a rising number of families affected by relationship breakdown. Because they are petrified of homelessness and have nowhere to go…

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta as ucht an t-ábhar seo. Increasing the provision of disability specialist residential services is a key Government priority and there has been significant investment in residential services over the course of the last number of years. The overall budget increase in recent years, from €1.7 billion at the close of 2017 to almost to €3.8 billion in 2…

There is no rationale. That is why the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, is not here to take my Topical Issue. I handed a file to the Minister six to eight weeks ago in this regard. First, I thank Liam Campion, his wife and family. They are builders and providers who are building apartments - six-storey blocks - in this city today, as well as in Cork city. They have been building for nearly 50…

Aontú believes that we, as a people, should do our best to try to provide help to those who are fleeing war and violence. We believe there are many people in Ireland who are migrants who are making a valuable contribution to our country and our society. They are essential in many sectors and this country would not function properly only for those individuals. We also believe that when a person is …