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1701. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to raise the ceiling for the first home scheme to €450,000 in Limerick as current ceiling is not in line with market prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24880/26]

1702. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he will publish the list of the new planning regulations that are coming into effect this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24907/26]

1703. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will engage with Dublin City Council to review their budget shortfall for resurfacing and general road maintenance repairs across the city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24915/26]

1704. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will engage with local authorities to agree a uniform set of rules for the application of the means assessment for HAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24916/26]

1705. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his view on whether carers allowances should be disregarded as assessable income for HAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24917/26]

1709. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether owners management companies can lawfully collect levies for defect works that will qualify for 100% grant funding under the scheme while the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill 2024 awaits enactment; if owners management companies will be required to pursue grant funding before levying owners; th…

1710. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the specific measures he is taking to provide accommodation for one-parent families given the higher vulnerability of this group to experience homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24974/26]

1711. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide details of the delivery achieved to date under the 2025 Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24979/26]

1713. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an entitlement to the current rate of RAS payment of a person will be affected in cases in which a tenant may receive an inheritance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24985/26]

1714. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of civil and public servants in his Department and agencies under its remit who have received training in AI, data literacy, or digital skills in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25038/26]

1715. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to expedite the introduction of the over-shop grant (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25045/26]

1717. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of AHB P and A agreements commenced in 2024 and 2025; the average length of the agreements; the average cost of these agreements; and the details of all costs covered in the monthly availability agreement payment. [25076/26]

1719. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to publish the data used to create charts (details supplied). [25078/26]

1720. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to previous requests (details supplied) to consider a planning permission waiver for short-term lets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25185/26]

1721. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to review and update the Local Government Fund equalisation mechanism, in light of concerns regarding the adequacy of funding provided to certain local authorities, including Galway County Council; whether he will acknowledge the existence of structural underfunding within the current model; and if …

1722. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will publish submissions received from stakeholders on the upcoming exempted development regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25225/26]

1724. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the initial estimated allocation compared to the actual outturn for the period of carbon tax to his Department, disaggregated by the programme or measure funded, for each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25277/26]

1725. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to change policy in relation to differential rents for single working parents in light of the fact that there are very different rates between local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25309/26]

1726. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider amending the planning legislation to remove the requirement for TII to have input into planning applications within the boundaries of settlements along national secondary routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25326/26]

1728. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of allocated carbon tax funding that remained unspent at year end; the amount surrendered back to the Exchequer via the Central Fund; the amount carried over via formal arrangements for deferred surrender; and whether amounts carried over were retained for the specific programme/measure origin…

1730. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); to detail his Department's engagement with Public Jobs regarding this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25398/26]

1732. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total pay bill for the civil service in his Department for each year from 2016 to 2025 inclusive. [25447/26]

1733. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide additional resources to local authorities to improve the processing time for vacant property refurbishing grant applications, as currently Mayo County Council are only processing grant payments for building completion works received in September 2025, which is causing significant hardshi…

1734. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update in respect of the Fire Services Capital Programme 2026 - 2030; if he will provide a schedule of sites located to participate in the programme; and the budget allocation for the Fire Services Capital Programme 2026 - 2030 [25483/26]

1735. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to provide local authorities with resources to provide full-time fire services and those that he has identified to date [25484/26]

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Motion re Appointment of Ordinary Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 (Second Stage, resumed) (to adjourn after 2 hours and 4 minutes) Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Mercosur Trade Agreement, selected by …

I start by wishing everybody in the house a happy new year. On Monday, 12 January, The Echo, a Cork local newspaper known to the Taoiseach and me, reported dozens of early childcare facilities closing across Cork. In fact, 130 facilities have closed in the past five years in Cork and that is echoed throughout Ireland. Providers are warning that Government funding levels, statutory burdens and staf…

I move: That Dáil Éireann, in accordance with section 8(3)(a) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, as amended, appoints Deputy Brian Brennan to be an ordinary member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission in place of Deputy Frank Feighan who has resigned his office in accordance with the aforementioned section 8.

I also congratulate Elaine Gunn on her appointment. We look forward to working constructively with her in the time ahead. She is very experienced and knows the operations of this House very well indeed, as well as the various personalities who make up the House and how they all have to be managed differently and carefully. Deputy Boyd Barrett, the applause was for Elaine.

It is very strange that the majority of us here seem to be from Carlow and Kilkenny. The Labour Party and I welcome the general thrust of what the Minister of State is trying to do with this Bill. I stand here as someone who has struggled an awful lot with nicotine addiction. It is something that personally I have found very hard to overcome for a number of years. I have been on again and off agai…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. This is a very important and timely debate. A huge number of people are very worried about the Mercosur deal. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of the large number of people who attended the meeting at the weekend to express their concern about what could potentially happen to them and their families in the future. They are also extre…

First, I salute every farmer and person, not alone farmers, who came to Athlone last Saturday. It was a credit to them. The worrying thing tonight is when I see a consultation for 30 days in a factory not far from here. It shows the signs of policy over the last number of years. A factory in a deboning hall is having a 30-day consultation. You do not have to be a professor to know what is coming o…

I thank Deputy Cahill for his very important question. In line with the programme for Government, I was pleased to launch the Government's new national - I have the wrong one there. My apologies. I think I have the wrong question, if you could just give me a second. I do not see it here. Anyway, I will manage. In relation to our short-term lets, there is obviously a commitment in the programme fo…

Without the mix in accommodation and flexibility, many people would stay away, despite our fabulous food and stunning scenery offering from Kerry to Donegal. We need to be very careful that we do not kill the golden goose by legislating tourism accommodation providers out of the market. To fill the shortage of all types of lets, we need more premises. This is being addressed with the vacant and de…

I again thank the Deputy for his comments. I do not want to see any unintended consequences coming from this action. The core point is that when you have a sector that is growing at 10% per annum in terms of numbers, without any Government intervention, we need to ensure there is regulation here in some regard. It is about getting the correct policy to ensure we are getting the data from the peopl…

I appreciate the Deputy raising this. My information is that the services provided by Liberty Street House are not being curtailed. Indeed, the cases will continue right throughout 2026. The new model of practice is to ensure that all services are available through multidisciplinary teams at the time when they are needed, in the one place at the right time. I am very happy for the Deputy to bring …

As Minister for State with special responsibility for disabilities, I am committed to delivering a step-change in supports and services for people with disabilities and their families, ensuring they are enabled to live full lives of their own choosing and on an equitable basis with everyone else in society. The Department has been working closely with the HSE to deliver on this ambition and improv…

These recommendations were published on 3 December. From a legislative point of view, it is being given priority through my Department's work on the child care (amendment) Bill, which we move very rapidly through the House. I know that there will be very strong co-operation forthcoming from the Deputy and right across the House. We will continue to engage with all the Government agencies and Depar…

That disappoints me greatly as you have been a mentor of mine for many years here and I depend on your guidance in many other fora as well. I propose to take Questions Nos. 108, 112 and 119. The programme for Government commits to ramping up the achievement of retrofit targets through continued delivery of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's residential and community energy upgrade sch…

With regard to the Government's commitment, in recent weeks we have seen huge announcements about investment in our electricity and energy system. It is unprecedented and akin to rural electrification. Over €18.6 billion is being invested to reinforce our grid through a number of capital projects. Over 500 capital projects will be delivered right across the country. We are very much focused on en…

You went into last year's election promising people an average €300,000 home in Dublin, but you could not tell us how you were going to pay for it or make it happen. We are all working to try to improve the housing situation. Here are some facts: planning permissions are up this year and last year; there have been more first-time buyers this year than last year; and there have been more home compl…

I thank the Deputy for making the effort today with his Christmas jumper and for injecting a degree of Christmas cheer into this place. I wish him, his family, colleagues and staff a very happy Christmas too. The factual answer in relation to a Dublin allowance is that all of these issues are matters for pay agreements. It is for the unions and the Government side to bring proposals to the table.…

I join previous speakers in thanking everybody associated with the House for their hard and diligent work throughout 2025 and I wish everyone a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year. The issue I want to raise relates to An Post. Management and the trustees of the An Post pension scheme have agreed an increase for An Post pensioners and those pensioners are very anxious that the Minister and t…

I wish everybody here and throughout the House a very happy Christmas and thank them for what has been my first year and how welcoming they have been. I have been very delighted to see the Taoiseach has given clearance for Santa Claus to come. I wish to raise an issue on the South Circular Road in my constituency, where a number of people are housed in a homeless hostel. Unfortunately, there seem…

I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important issue, which was rightly raised in this House today. The British ambassador was present here today, as Deputy Farrell and others have raised this issue. I know the ambassador will convey the depth of feelings and concerns of Members of this House to the British Government. I will also raise the issue with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade …

I was certainly not being flippant about the programme for Government commitments. I do not want anyone holding off on staying healthy until future budgets. These are issues that we will, of course, consider in the round, as we always do in advance of the budget. I was in Millstreet in west Cork recently to visit a community gym that is part-funded through Government grants. It was great to see. …

The Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, confirmed for me recently that Fingal County Council will be admitted to the defective concrete block scheme, which is very welcome. However, I need to highlight that a small number of very good, prudent homeowners in Skerries, Lusk and The Naul have already remediated their homes and consequently will not now be eligible to be supported under the scheme. I…

I take this opportunity to wish the Ceann Comhairle and all of the staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas, and even the Minister and his staff, a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year. Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt faoin Bhille. Tá buntáistí agus rioscaí ag baint leis an méid atá fógartha. Ní mór dúinn an Bille seo a scrúdú go cúramach. An Garda Síochána has a challenging j…

I am opposed to this legislation on the basis of the potential for it to be used to convict people mistakenly, particularly people of colour, working-class young people and minorities. We have a lot of grounds to say that. The Bill is part of an increasingly repressive turn in policing and follows a pattern that already exists here, in Europe, in the US and in other countries worldwide. We have se…

This is the last time I will speak before Christmas. I wish the Ceann Comhairle, all Members and the staff who work here tirelessly throughout the year a happy Christmas. I thank them on my behalf and on behalf, I would say, of all Members of the Oireachtas for their outstanding work. I also want to thank my officials in the Department of justice for their tireless commitment to providing assistan…