Search the Dáil record

73. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he would consider tabulating his annual child poverty target with the material deprivation rate together with the rate at risk of poverty (after housing costs) as opposed to the current formula which incorporates the former with the at risk of poverty rate (before housing costs); if he is aware that the current child poverty ta…

382. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to deliver affordable housing for counties Roscommon and Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15760/26]

384. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current status of the legislative or departmental guidelines regarding the restructuring of legacy shared ownership loans into annuity loans; if his attention has been drawn to cases where local authorities have failed to process restructuring applications for several years, leading to the 'expiry' of the lo…

395. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of households currently on the social housing waiting list in Carlow in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; the number of people who have been removed from the list since 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15951/26]

396. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of households currently on the social housing waiting list in Kilkenny in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 ; the number of people who have been removed from the list since 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15948/26]

152. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the updated average cost for retrofitting a social housing unit as part of the national retrofitting scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15280/26]

625. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of homes purchased in Ireland by investment funds, by area and house size, across 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, in tabular form. [14473/26]

652. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether hemp-based construction materials, including hempcrete and bio composite products are being considered within public procurement frameworks and housing policy as part of efforts to reduce building emissions and construction costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14329/26]

659. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has considered or supported small-scale, clustered or integrated housing developments specifically designed for adults with intellectual disabilities who wish to live independently while remaining close to their peers and community, such as a proposed development of 15–20 universally desig…

662. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the engagement his Department has had with the HSE, the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality, and local authorities to ensure that housing delivery for people with disabilities aligns with individualised supports rather than institutional-style provision; and if he will make a statement on the m…

666. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the formal review of the housing assistance payment scheme will conclude; when a revised HAP scheme will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14664/26]

667. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the engagement he has had with local authorities on developing a protocol to allow households fleeing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to transfer time spent on a social housing waiting list to another local authority; to provide details of the number of meetings he has had; the dates of the meetings …

677. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which he reconciles concerns about local authority “over-reliance” on the tenant in situ scheme with the ongoing urgent housing needs; the guidance or additional resources which are being provided to councils to ensure that at-risk tenants can remain in their homes; and if he will make a statemen…

692. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of projects submitted to date in 2026 by each local authority seeking support under the Housing Activation Investment Fund. [15108/26]

694. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the options available, if any, for individuals with disabilities who work full time and as a consequence earn too much to access the housing adaptation grant for older people and people with disabilities; but who require immediate adaptations to their home in order to remain independent; and if he will make a st…

696. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the most up-to-date average cost of delivering a new-build social housing unit in each local authority, including any relevant factors affecting cost variations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15175/26]

697. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide details of the annual maintenance and upgrade expenditure on social housing by each local authority for the past three years, including the average annual maintenance cost per unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15176/26]

698. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated total asset value of the existing social housing stock nationally; the methodology used to determine that valuation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15177/26]

266. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his views on whether the eight-year deemed disposal rule is contributing to increased demand in the housing market and thereby exacerbating the housing crisis; and if he will consider its abolition in the interests of encouraging diversified long-term saving; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13913/26]

402. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department maintains an internal monitoring framework, dashboard or structured reporting mechanism which tracks the number of Notices of Termination issued in the private rental sector as a core housing performance indicator; if so, the frequency at which such data is formally reviewed at senior manag…

414. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total expenditure on social housing acquisitions for each year from 2020 to 2025 and the allocation for 2026; and the number of units purchased with this funding in each year with a breakdown by category (i.e. tenant-in-situ, vacant acquisition etc.), in tabular form. [13890/26]

415. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a breakdown of social housing acquisition funding for 2026 for each local authority. [13891/26]

416. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the work of the Housing Activation Office, including the number of applications for funding it has received from which local authorities and for what infrastructure; and to provide an update on the progress of each application. [13892/26]

419. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether consideration has been given to introducing greater flexibility into the Land Acquisition Fund, including but not limited to staged acquisitions, advance purchase, or earlier intervention in the land market, in order to accelerate housing delivery; and if not, the reasons for same. [13904/26]

420. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail the annual funding allocation to Circle Housing AHB for the years 2020 to 2025, and to confirm if there is a dedicated contact email for Oireachtas members; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13976/26]

This Government has been saying - as did the previous one and the previous two before that - that housing is its number one priority. If so, I cannot understand why it did not take up Independent Ireland's strong advice and policy that this should be declared a housing emergency. This is an emergency. A recent poll in the Irish Independent found 65% or 67% of people said housing is the biggest iss…

The Minister has heard from the speakers here tonight. This is absolutely bonkers. We are talking about dereliction and vacancy. I am going to relate two very brief stories. I am lucky enough to be able to walk the dogs every Sunday morning and when I do I pass two beautiful, three-bedroom semi-detached homes that have been vacant for over 12 months. They are probably still good enough to be turn…

The move to the planned maintenance approach for stock management and maintenance is crucial in this regard to ensure that local authorities can maximise the funding available from relevant stock improvement programmes by only completing the measures applicable with the housing standards for rented housing regulations when a property becomes vacant. Providing cyclical maintenance over the life cyc…

I am sure the Deputy and his party have interacted in respect of the CRU's draft statement on large energy users. There is a strategy being brought forward that is plan led rather than developer led, and that is critically important. There is no question that the number one priority for this Government is housing and continuing to increase of housing delivery. We also have to invest in our grid. I…

We are not going to annihilate our climate targets. This Government is as committed as the previous Government was to the energy transition, reducing emissions and working as hard as we can to achieve the targets that have been set. On the expansion of renewable energy, 40% of all our energy last year was generated through renewables. We have made incredible progress in that regard, not just in t…

I again thank the House for the opportunity to engage with Members directly on flooding matters. I am aware of the significant impact on communities and of the distress caused by and the continued risk of flooding. I have seen impact of flooding on people and on their homes, businesses and farms at first hand. I fully recognise the hardship experienced by all those who have been affected by floodi…

I represent the new constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, which straddles the border between south Wicklow and north Wexford. As with the rest of the country, in all areas of my constituency there are issues with housing supply and availability of rental properties that are impacting families and communities. However, depending on which side of the border they live on, my constituents will receive sign…

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this important issue. He is in an unusual position in that he is a TD who represents two different counties in a new constituency. I wish him the best of luck and congratulate him on his election. The Deputy highlighted an issue with regard to discrepancies between different counties. These schemes are constantly under review and we will certainly consider amend…

As we know, the Government is all over the place on housing. As people sleep overnight in their cars hoping to get the chance to buy a home of their own, the Minister for housing, Deputy James Browne, went on television and admitted the Government's housing plan is failing. He stated that the Government is unlikely to meet its target of 41,000 homes this year and that the ESRI's projection of 34,0…

The Minister mentioned Our Rural Future. While I am glad to hear that the next iteration of the Government's rural development policy will look at housing, the previous one did not do so in any meaningful sense. In fact, it had more to say on rural broadband than on rural housing. I believe that is part of the fundamental problem. This Government and its predecessors have wasted years when housing…

This has been an issue for many of us across the House over the past couple of months. It has been flagged repeatedly by Government TDs as well as Opposition TDs. I would like to specifically talk about Cork city and county. Some 33 families in Cork city and around the same number in Cork county are currently in limbo. They are unsure what is happening with their applications for the tenant in sit…

This is one of the areas where there is a large chasm between where the people of Ireland are and where the political establishment in Leinster House sits. Most people want to be able to provide shelter for those who are fleeing war and violence and to be able to help people, especially from Ukraine, given the horrendous war happening there. However, most people want a level of fairness in the sys…

I welcome Cara and her dad, Mark, to the Public Gallery, as many of my colleagues on these benches have. When Cara walked in to Leinster House today, I noticed that she passed a painting of Countess Markievicz and busts of Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, women who have left indelible marks on this State. Cara’s name is up there with those great women who have left an indelible mark on this State.…

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important question on whether housing delivery is at risk because of challenges regarding the electricity grid. I am committed to building more homes in Ireland and to ensuring the housing needs of our society and economy are met. The Government’s revised housing targets, aiming for over 300,000 new homes by 2030, set a pathway to deliver on this objective. …

I acknowledge the progress that has been made in Cork, both by Cork City Council and Cork County Council in the delivery of affordable purchase houses in particular. That is very welcome and I note the strong ambition in the programme for Government under the starter homes theme, which is important. Again, I reiterate that when one looks at the delivery of housing, the quantum of social housing is…

I thank Deputy Connolly for raising the important issue of the funding provided to housing authorities for the provision of emergency accommodation in 2024 and 2025. Supporting individuals and families at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness is a priority for Government and me. Critical to this is increasing the supply of housing. The Government is committed to increasing supply with a record le…

I thank the Deputy. The programme for Government commits to the introduction of a new voids programme and work is under way in my Department to develop and roll out that programme. As Minister, my focus is on building on the strong progress made over recent years in tackling local authority vacancy levels, which was supported and enabled by significant Exchequer funding for my Department over the …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. We have spoken several times about this. He is passionate and anxious to see what has been agreed under the NPF translated into the local development plans, as am I and as is the Minister. The final revised NPF was approved by Government in April and passed by the Oireachtas last week. This concluded the revision process and allows the revised NPF to ta…

I thank the Minister of State for that. Rightsizing generally means moving home in later life into housing that is more suitable. It is more usually known as downsizing. It can also mean adapting your home to make it more age appropriate or considering other housing options. The Housing for All plan sets out that the current and projected need for housing among our older people should be made thro…

I thank the Deputy. His question relates to the urgent review of the cut in funding for the social housing acquisition programmes, given its negative impact on key homelessness schemes such as the tenant in situ and housing first. Tenant in situ acquisitions have been an important measure in the prevention of homelessness since their introduction in 2023. The Government has therefore agreed to co…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He referred to zero tolerance, but it does not look like zero tolerance because this man can live wherever he bloody well likes and Janet is stuck. I wish the Minister of State could meet this woman because all she has done is work hard. Through no fault of her own, she finds herself in a situation where she could be waiting 30 years to get permanent…

I will make an opening statement and then the Chair of the Oireachtas committee, Deputy Erin McGreehan, will speak and the Minister of State, Deputy Marian Harkin, will close the debate at the end. I welcome that we have taken some time in the House today to address one of the most important issues that confronts a government at any time, but particularly in changing and challenging times such as…

I was recently speaking to one of the housing officials in Kerry County Council who described the housing situation in the county as being "like a jungle out there". Rather than doing something about it, the plan from the Government is going to make things worse. The problems with critical infrastructure are so acute that they are preventing the delivery of new homes and are a result of bad planni…

Who is the Tánaiste trying to fool? He just stood up and barefaced said there is no housing tsar in his plan. Is that what he is trying to say? Does he know what his housing Minister said on "RTÉ News at One" yesterday? He said that Brendan McDonagh is "our preferred candidate". The Tánaiste said there are no candidates. The idea that there have not been conversations with Brendan McDonagh is nons…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the national planning framework. I welcome any attempts to future-proof infrastructure in this country. I am very disappointed, however, in reading the report. It is high on vision but it is almost like the report is detached from reality. I do not have long but I will give just one example. The report references the value and importance of the serviced sites …