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430. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the Government will consider restoring grants for the recommended demolition and rebuild (Option 1) for homeowners who commenced this option at their own expense and were previously downgraded to a lesser option by the Housing Agency; as the publication of the revised IS 465:2026 now confirms that Option 1 wa…

431. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the specific pathways that exist for people with intellectual disabilities who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to access appropriate housing, care and support; the way in which his Department co-ordinates with the HSE, disability services, local authorities and homeless service providers in such …

432. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider a review option and compensation scheme for homeowners who proceeded with an option 1 demolition and rebuild of their home under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme, in line with the recommendation of their engineer but not in line with the option provided for by the Housing A…

433. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to introduce a major low-cost sites scheme in County Kerry and across the country as part of the solution to the housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53596/26]

62. Deputy John Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he has considered the introduction of a stamp duty exemption, reduction or refund scheme for older homeowners who voluntarily downsize, or "rightsize", from larger family homes to smaller principal private residences; whether his Department has examined the potential impact of such a measure on housing mobility and on the more…

120. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether local authorities are required to include youth hubs or youth spaces in new housing developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51916/26]

123. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current status of all funding applications made by Galway City Council for the development of affordable housing; the location of each site for which funding is sought; the number of affordable units at each location; the steps involved in the process of approving the funding; and if he will make a statemen…

126. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason for the delay in approving the application for the improvement work in lieu of local authority housing scheme (IWILS) on behalf of a person (details supplied). [52123/26]

434. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow for the replacement of old or defective double-glazed windows under the housing grant scheme, with new double-glazed windows, especially if they are not fit for purpose, drafty, rusty or leaking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50907/26]

446. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the regulations relating to service charges and sinking funds for owners' management companies, provided for under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, remain under consideration; when it is expected that these regulations will be introduced; whether additional resources are planned for the Housing Ag…

450. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if, as part of the new national planning statement, he will review or amend the provisions of the national roads guidelines that restrict one-off housing on national secondary roads such as the N56; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51135/26]

454. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of the proposed rent increases for residents of a facility (details supplied), whereby monthly rents are proposed to increase from approximately €371 to €571, with some individual tenants facing increases of up to 176%; his views on whether such increases are compatible with the objectives of soc…

456. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he will consider introducing additional statutory protections for older persons living in approved housing body accommodation to ensure that tenants on fixed incomes are not subject to excessive rent increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51242/26]

459. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he intends to undertake a review of the approved housing body sector to examine governance, financial sustainability, value-for-money, asset management, rent-setting practices and tenant protections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51245/26]

461. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the annual cost of the housing assistance payment in 2024, 2025, and projected cost in 2026; and the number of tenancies in receipt of HAP in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51262/26]

463. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount that was spent by local authorities on social housing maintenance in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025; the projected spend in 2026; and the number of properties that received necessary works in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51264/26]

465. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated full year spend on retrofitting of housing by local authorities; the total number of units retrofitted in 2024, 2025 and estimates for 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51266/26]

467. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessments in relation to water, waste water and so on, that were carried out on the Sustainable Rural and Gaeltacht Housing Draft National Planning Policy Statement; when the strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessments were commissioned; who has been commissioned to undertake them; and i…

473. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost per unit of accommodation to carry out a social housing stock condition survey. [51391/26]

477. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of new social housing leases entered into in 2025; the average cost per year arising from these leases; the breakdown of lease type and average annual cost of each sub type per unit leased. [51395/26]

486. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to make it a legal requirement for title documentations including historic Tailte Éireann instruments, planning documentation and an updated certificate of compliance to be gathered and ready before a house is listed for sale; if he will consider such proposals to speed up the length of time between …

139. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to detail his Department’s plans to address construction labour force shortfalls and the impact that will have on housing delivery; if he will consider a State construction company to increase to build public construction capacity to ensure Ireland has the workers needed to directly delive…

340. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the publication and commencement of the proposed National Planning Statement on rural housing will require planning authorities to initiate statutory variations to their County Development Plans where existing policies are inconsistent with the new National Planning Statement; whether planning authorit…

341. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether, following the commencement of the National Planning Statement on rural housing, the planning policies and objectives contained within existing County Development Plans that are inconsistent with the statement will cease to have effect immediately, or whether such policies will remain in force until am…

191. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the position regarding an application made by Galway County Council to the housing activation office in respect of the next section of the Athenry Ring Road; the progress from his Department to Galway County Council in respect of the Athenry Ring Road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49963/26]

I am the chairperson of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight, and I am delighted to be Independent Ireland's first chairperson. An invitation to the Minister to attend our meeting next Tuesday was sent by the clerk to the committee. We had facilitated the Minister, in that he could not make it two weeks ago. We changed people around and other people appeared before us. However, we got a note back …

I want to encourage everyone from Munster and nationally to come to the National Monument on Grand Parade in Cork this Saturday at 2 p.m. for Raise the Roof for Munster and raise the roof for people who are crying out for housing. I will provide the Minister with an example of what he has done. I am not being personal, but the Minister needs to understand the consequences of his actions as the Min…

I will begin by reiterating that, for the common good, I want every Government housing and homelessness policy to work. For every person on a housing list, for every one of the hidden homeless, for every family in a homeless hub and for all of those in emergency accommodation, I want the Government's policies to work. However, I do not know what way it needs to be communicated to the Minister for …

For years, we have known about the state of the housing crisis and calling it an emergency. The President, Uachtarán na hÉireann, called it disastrous when he came to my constituency in north Kildare. Record level house prices, rising rents and missing its own building targets year after year is the Government's record on housing as well as misleading people in the last general election with made …

During the election, Independent Ireland said a housing emergency needed to be declared and everyone ran away. Now it seems as though we are rushing through legislation in the Dáil this week in a frantic bid to try to overturn the emergency that is there. There are 15,000 people without homes, which is a huge emergency for those in that dire situation. I am inundated every weekend when I hold clin…

I thank all those who took part in the cross-party Raise the Roof motion on the housing crisis. I also thank all those who took part in the Raise the Roof protest at the Dáil tonight. There will also be a Raise the Roof rally in Cork city on 21 June at 2 p.m. and CATU will have a national housing demonstration on 5 July in Dublin. We urge people to come out and support them. Having listened to th…

I thank all the Deputies who have spoken so passionately during this debate about the horrific and inhumane situation in Gaza. Being in government is about doing everything in our power to address issues facing society, but doing it within the confines of international law so real progress can be made. There may be differences of opinion regarding our approach, but I do not for a moment doubt the …

Perfect. The Department is undertaking a review of the exempted development provisions, which will provide further options for provision of housing. A public consultation process will commence this month and updated regulations will come into force later this year. The commencement of Part 17 of the Planning and Development Act to establish An Coimisiún Pleanála to replace An Bord Pleanála is imm…

The housing emergency is the biggest challenge facing people in Ireland today. There is no leadership or strategy from the Government. Its response has been flip-flopping, chaos and confusion. This has a direct impact on public services with teachers, gardaí, firefighters and nurses unable to afford rent and unable to get a mortgage. It is time for this Government to wake up to the damage its poli…

In my two minutes, I want to focus on the issue of affordable housing in Meath East for working people to buy and rent. I looked at daft.ie before I came to the Chamber. Four-bedroom second-hand properties are €535,000 to buy, on average, with three-bedrooms €430,000 and two-bedrooms €240,000. There are no properties at all to rent. Not a single affordable unit has been delivered under this or th…

When speaking to people in Kerry and dealing with the housing officers in Kerry County Council who are swamped with a deluge of people who are suffering from notices to quit, long waiting lists, rents they cannot afford and being denied access to some of the various schemes, it is obvious that the answer is more social and affordable housing. However, in Kerry, there was no affordable housing sche…

The Minister of State and I both come from the Limerick City constituency. Before I came to the Chamber, I listened in my office to what he said. I was surprised. As he knows, we officially have 220 boarded-up council houses, of which 62, or 28%, have been boarded up for more than a year. He knows that because he has seen it. Across the city, Ballynanty, Kileely, Thomondgate, Moyross and Southill …

We just had statements on the report of the Housing Commission. We hear all sorts of arguments about how this is complicated, we need to do this and how there are multiple factors at play. We are talking about 2,500 apartments and houses that the State already owns. They are there. They are empty. Of all the low-hanging fruit in terms of the housing crisis, surely the 2,500 houses and flats the St…

I thank all of those across the House who supported Labour's important motion on Gaza today and I thank the Government for not opposing it. I look forward to working with the Government and the Opposition to bring about an end to the suffering and genocide being perpetrated upon the people of Gaza. Ireland has shown leadership but we can do more. We want to work constructively and collectively to …

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important matter. The Programme for Government - Securing Ireland’s Future includes several commitments to deliver practical housing for positive ageing. These commitments build upon the policy objectives in Housing for All that commit to increasing the housing options available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence. The…

I thank the Deputy for raising what I know is an absolute priority for him and his constituents. He is absolutely passionate about achieving an outcome and delivery above all else. Housing is the number one priority for this Government. Making sure we can deliver housing for every citizen who needs it, be it in urban or rural areas, is the number one priority. That is why we are absolutely committ…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I can tell that she has a very personal interest in this, and that speaks to the person she is. I thank her for tabling the matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for housing. The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a cross-departmental and multi-agency issue, with overall policy co-ordinated by the Department o…

I begin by offering my deepest condolences also to the family of the late Garda Kevin Flatley, his wife, Una, his children, Aoife and Erin, his entire community and his colleagues in An Garda Síochána. On behalf of the Labour Party, I pay tribute to Garda Flatley and the dangerous work he did, and all his colleagues do, in front-line policing. We all owe them an enormous debt for keeping our commu…

I was mystified by the approach of the Government to housing. I was mystified during the election campaign but I am twice as mystified now. From committing to things that would make things worse, it has moved on to implementing things that would make things worse, such as the rent pressure zones and effectively getting rid of crucial tenant protections such as the tenant in situ scheme. That compl…

I also welcome all the students from Inver College. Hopefully they will be inspired by politics and what they see today. Robust exchanges are always important in the political system. I appreciate what the Deputy has raised. I will provide clarity for her. The legislation she referenced was the general scheme of the conclusion of the IBRC special liquidation and dissolution of NAMA Bill 2024, whi…

I thank Deputy Gould for raising this important matter. I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss the second-hand acquisitions programme, which includes the tenant in situ scheme in Cork city. This Government and Department are committed to increasing the supply of new build social and affordable homes. Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge and in part…

I congratulate Deputy John Cummins on his role as Minister of State. He has been there for a few months but it is my first time speaking to him directly in the Chamber. Deputy Cummins was a great councillor friend of mine. Obviously, he is from Waterford and I am from Kildare but we were great friends for so many years that is a great honour to be able to speak to him in this way today. I want to…

I did my best to read through the report. I have two minutes so I cannot do it justice, but I have certainly read it. I would like to welcome it but I cannot. When you look at it, the words, such as "sustainability", are good, but you then realise it is business as usual. It is significant that in a few days' time we will - I will not say celebrate - recall that we declared a climate and biodivers…

The outrageous salary the Taoiseach proposes to pay his new housing tsar is €430,000. It is nearly half a million euro - an astonishing amount of taxpayers' money for the salary of just one person. It is more than the Taoiseach's very generous salary. It is even more than the President of the United States is paid. It is equivalent to the starting salary of 11 new nurses, 11 new gardaí or 13 new s…

I stand to say what I wrote in a letter earlier this week to the Ministers, Deputies Browne and Chambers, and to express my incredulity at the dire situation coming to light in respect of the Uisce Éireann infrastructure deficits in Carlow town. I implore the Department of housing and the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers, and his Department to hold Uisce Éireann to account as it is…