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1770. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to introduce a planning waiver for short-term lets (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25992/26]

1771. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason firefighters who continue to pass annual medical and fitness assessments are required to retire at 62 years-of-age rather than being allowed to continue working to 66 years in line with the State pension age; whether his Department has examined the feasibility of linking retirement to fitness and med…

1772. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage given current recruitment and retention challenges within fire services, whether any analysis has been undertaken by his Department of the cost, pension, and staffing implications of retaining experienced firefighters beyond the age of 62; and whether flexibility may be considered for firefighters who continue …

1773. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has been consulted regarding the replacement of firefighters due to retire in County Mayo in 2026; and the supports, approvals or funding mechanisms that are available to local authorities to ensure continuity of service where multiple experienced personnel retire within a short timeframe…

1774. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage given that full-time and retained firefighters are required to undergo and pass annual occupational health and fitness assessments, the reason for the policy rationale for mandatory retirement at 62 years-of-age; the reason firefighters who continue to meet the required medical and fitness standards are not per…

1775. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he has considered or has proposals under way to increase the mandatory retirement age for full-time and retained firefighters from 62 to 66 years-of-age, in line with the State pension age; the engagement, if any, he has had with local authorities and representative bodies on this issue; and if he will …

1776. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of full-time firefighters and retained (reserve) firefighters in County Mayo who are due to retire in 2026 and 2027, by station where possible; the projected impact this will have on fire service capacity and emergency response in the county; and the contingency or workforce-planning measures current…

1777. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessment that has been carried out by his Department or by Mayo County Council on the operational impact of the retirement of three experienced firefighters in Claremorris in 2026, with a combined service record in excess of 100 years; and the way in which institutional knowledge, mentoring capacity and o…

1778. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the up-to-date rules for an organisation (details supplied) with regard to the seven year exemption. [26060/26]

1779. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding a project in County Laois (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26085/26]

1780. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of cost-rental homes delivered in 2025 in the Dublin City Council area and for Dublin bay south, the breakdown by the type of delivery such as, local authority builds, local authority acquisitions, tenant in-situ, and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26100/26]

1784. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide details of the eligibility for the Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26124/26]

1785. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the names and organisations that have met with him, his political advisors or his Departmental officials on the issue of domestic residential exempted development regulations in the past six months; and the dates on which these meetings occurred and the officials in attendance. [26133/26]

1786. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a list of all submissions received by his Department to the review of exempted development regulations. [26135/26]

1787. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of non-Governmental organisations that have received State funding from his Department in each of the past five years; the number of such organisations currently registered in the State which have been funded by his Department; the number located outside the State that have received Irish public fund…

1788. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the planning advice that was provided by his Department to local authorities in preparation of the current round of development plans on the issue of electric vehicle charging point provision in new residential developments; and the guidance that will be provided by his Department to Local Authorities in prepar…

1789. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the announced building control regulations for ev charging points in residential developments announced in 2022 (details supplied). [26184/26]

1791. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will consider liaising with Kildare County Council to upgrade Naas fire station to a full-time station or ensure that it is manned full-time during certain hours of the day given the high number of call outs from the station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26250/26]

1793. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update made on the Programme for Government commitment to earmark certain cost rental units for key local workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26324/26]

1794. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the review of the 2001 planning guidelines for local authorities on early learning and childcare settings, in order to increase childcare supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26325/26]

1796. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans in place to reinstate town councils to places such as Killarney, Tralee and Listowel in County Kerry; the length of time before they are reinstated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26369/26]

1798. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of affordable homes completed by each local authority in each of the years 2021 to 2025; and the number scheduled to be completed in 2026, in tabular form. [26405/26]

1799. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of dereliction levy orders made by each of the 31 local authorities across the country; the total sums collected for 2024; if figures are now available for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26408/26]

1800. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of households that have accessed the domestic wastewater treatment systems grant schemes since their inception; the number of households that have availed of each specific grant scheme, in tabular form (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26516/26]

1801. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that the current structure of the domestic wastewater treatment systems grant under the National Inspection Plan prevents households from applying proactively for the grant; if he will consider reforming this scheme's structure to make the grant accessible on a user-driven basis similar to SEAI h…

Last week, the Government published the accelerating infrastructure report and action plan. It is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. This action plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes and rising costs. These have all been identified as major barriers to achie…

I am familiar with those elements of the west of Ireland, in Galway, Mayo and elsewhere. The west is being prioritised in many of the projects set out in the sectoral investment plans. There is the social and affordable housing delivery we want to ramp up in the context of the housing sectoral plan that the Minister, Deputy Browne, has published. The transport sectoral plan will significantly enha…

I thank Deputy McCormack for his question. Last week, the Government published the accelerating infrastructure report and action plan. This is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. This action plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes and rising costs. These have a…

My question relates to the recently published Government infrastructure plan and the steps that will be taken by Government to work more closely with housing developers and builders, big and small, on essential infrastructure for housing. What reforms will be introduced under the accelerated infrastructure delivery plan to enable developer-led infrastructure?

The accelerating infrastructure report and action plan includes targeted reforms to certain types of developer-led infrastructure as set out under action 15. This action recognises that alongside record public investment under the national development plan, private sector delivery models may play a complementary role in certain circumstances. Specifically under action 15, the Government has commit…

The Deputy will have heard from the Minister, Deputy Browne, about wastewater treatment plants and the work on advancing that, which will be critical to improving overall housing supply. It will not be solely Irish Water but it will be something that will enhance wider water infrastructure across the State. Similarly, there is the work the Minister, Darragh O'Brien, is doing in respect of private …

I dtosach, ar son mo phairtí, Fine Gael agus ar son an Rialtais, déanaim comhbhrón le clann Paddy Cooney, a cailleadh i rith na seachtaine. He was a former Minister for Justice - I note a flag is at half-mast over the House today - a former TD for Longford-Westmeath and a former Senator. He was a great advocate in the Dáil for the people of Longford and Westmeath and did a huge amount of work to p…

I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising what is an important issue, particularly at this time of year. We should all be cognisant and reminded of the great work taxi drivers and hackney drivers do all over the country in bringing us home safely in communities across the country, particularly when we are all so anxious to ensure that people do not drink and drive. We want people to go out and enjoy th…

Kerry County Council is now building no rural cottages. It is building hardly any houses at all. It was doing great work. People got houses built on their lands-----

The national development plan, NDP, sectoral transport plan published some days ago has a lot of very welcome initiatives and projects in it, which I think will transform infrastructure up and down the country. Today, however, I want to zero attention in on the importance of the DART+ programme, in particular the DART+ South West programme. This is pivotal not only in providing the necessary infra…

A total of 93 families in Cork will spend their Christmas in homeless accommodation. Five of them will have been in homeless accommodation for over three years. This year, the Government will spend €21 million housing these families while there are hundreds of boarded-up council houses in Cork that could be turned around. These are places where children could have a proper Christmas and hang stock…

The Deputy made a number of points. I totally agree with him that the provision of serviced sites on or adjacent to campuses is key. There is a significant earmarked fund within the student strategy and my national development plan budget to allow for those sites to progress, and to be identified and serviced, with facilities where necessary. The local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF…

I agree with the Deputy about Jim Hargis and the excellent work he is doing at St. Andrew's Resource Centre. I have been there twice. If anybody wants to see how to help to get young men and women into different sectors through traineeships and apprenticeships in a supportive and inclusive way, they need to look at what is happening there. It is an excellent example. I commend the Deputy on mentio…

I thank Deputy Whitmore for bringing this Private Members' Bill before the Dáil. As an avid animal lover, I agree with a lot of what is in her Bill. I hope we can work together to implement it. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Heydon, has asked me to relay his apologies for being unable to be here this morning, and to clearly state that the area of animal welfare broadly, …

I thank Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this legislation. It is an appropriate time to introduce it given the work being done by the stakeholder group to look at all of these issues. The Government is talking about kicking the can down the road, as it does with so many of the Bills that come before the House. We all need to recognise that we have a difficulty in Irela…

I am sure if I were to ask everyone in here to raise their hands, including the kids in the Gallery, if they do not like dogs, those who do so would be in the minority. Sadly, we lost our Cosmo, a 12-year old husky, five weeks ago. The house feels empty without her. When I get up in the morning or I walk into the house, I do not hear the patter of feet or hear her. We are a nation of dog lovers,…

We have a large majority of dog breeders who do their work well and do it right. They are legislated for and they have regular visits from vets and regular welfare visits and they do everything correctly. We have a minority who are not doing it right. Any minority that is not doing it right deserves the heavy hand of the law. The Bill needs to be right once and for all but the biggest issue with i…

I think the lack of seriousness of the Minister of State's response was incredible. I have to say it was quite shocking. He did not even take any significant amount of his allocated time for the response. I am a cat owner, not a dog owner, but I know that many of my fellow cat owners will be very supportive. I was sitting this morning with my cat, listening to Deputy Whitmore on "Morning Ireland",…

As a new TD, I find it deeply frustrating that Government Ministers say to us constantly that the Social Democrats have no solutions, policies or ideas and then, when we come to the Dáil with solutions, policies and ideas, they are dismissed and rejected. In his opening speech the Minister of State asked us to accept his bona fides about the 12-month delay. I would accept that if this did not happ…

Yesterday, campaigners from the Irish Wheelchair Association, Access for All, the Disability Federation of Ireland and others were outside Leinster House, as I am sure the Taoiseach is well aware. They were here because the recent budget has left people with disabilities up to €1,400 worse off. Many are afraid to heat their own homes, and they were very clear: people with disabilities are having t…

I will talk to the Minister in respect of that. The previous Government increased it. I make the point that between July 2020 and the end of quarter 2 of this year, 50,684 social houses were added to the social housing stock. That is way ahead of anything that was ever done in the previous 20 years.

It is an important point to acknowledge. Nearly 14,000 homes were brought back into use under the voids programme. We are reaching levels of social housing building and provision now that we had not seen since the 1970s, which is good. We need to continue to do that and we will continue to do it. More than 26,000 social homes are at all stages of design and build in Ireland. That is dealing with t…

I thank all Deputies who raised issues in terms of national security and the national security strategy. It reflects a growing awareness and engagement with this House, not before time, in respect of security and defence issues. There has been a wilful ignoring of these issues for far too long in the House. Particular perspectives have been taken on this. Even this morning, there were references t…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 28, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on infrastructure last met on 3 November and will meet again early in the new year. The Cabinet committee works to drive infrastructure delivery and the implementation of the revised national development plan. As Members know, last week, we brought to Government the essence of that plan. The reform of the delive…

Ireland faces an emergency crisis in terms of infrastructure, housing, energy and water. According to the ESRI, an additional 40,000 construction workers will be needed for the housing plan and an additional 40,000 will be needed for infrastructure. That is 80,000 construction workers who are required to meet the Government’s plan. Indeed, the Dublin metro will require 8,000 construction workers. …