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616. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views regarding energy cloud; if he has considered including the use of surplus energy as part of the Government's social housing retrofit programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72385/25]

432. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the introduction of a new single stage process for social housing delivery; when this process will be available to local authorities; and the number of applications that have been received under this process to date. [70926/25]

433. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he intends to publish the planning policy statement on short-term letting; and if he will give a commitment to publish the statement in draft form to allow the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing to scrutinise the statement prior to its adoption by Government. [70927/25]

434. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the regulations included in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 to permit victims of domestic abuse to end a joint application and, with the agreement of a landlord and without delay, submit and secure a new application for the same property to ensure the victim, not the perpetrator…

435. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the regulations included in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 that prevent a joint HAP application from being split into two separate applications in cases of domestic abuse (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70962/25]

449. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when legislation to underpin the defects remediation schemes will come before the Oireachtas Housing Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71183/25]

215. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average and median statutory decision making times recorded in An Coimisiún Pleanála for each of the past five years for planning appeals, strategic housing developments, large scale residential developments and strategic infrastructure cases, in tabular form; and to confirm the year-on-year change in each ca…

220. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail his Department’s assessment of the impact of judicial review volumes on planning decision timelines in An Coimisiún Pleanála over the past five years, including data on the number of judicial review (JR) cases initiated each year; the proportion relating to housing or infrastructure; and his Department’…

224. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures in Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025–2030 that deal with delayed hospital discharges for older people and disabled persons who are medically fit for discharge but unable to leave due to housing shortages; and the delivery timelines attached to these measures. [70418/25]

225. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has set annual output targets in Delivering Homes, Building Communities for the provision of housing suitable for older people and disabled persons transitioning from hospitals or nursing homes; and if so, the targets for 2025, 2026, and 2027. [70424/25]

235. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number and value of residential property purchases completed by non-resident buyers in each of the past five years, disaggregated by price band and county; the proportion of these purchases completed without mortgage finance; and the actions his Department is considering to protect housing affordability for d…

291. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the formal governance arrangements in place between her Department, the HSE, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for addressing delayed transfers of care linked to housing shortages, including reporting channels, escalation processes, and scheduled interdepartmental reviews. [70415/25]

294. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has carried out any assessment of the financial impact on the health service arising from delayed transfers of care caused by housing shortages; and the estimated cost of acute and step-down bed days occupied by persons awaiting suitable housing in 2023, 2024, and 2025. [70421/25]

482. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the date on which he received a letter of recommendation from the Housing Agency in relation to homes in County Meath being included in the defective block scheme; when a decision will be made in relation to this; the date on which homeowners in County Meath will be able to apply to the scheme and conditions …

491. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify if tax refunds, tax credits (including the rent tax credit), and medical-expense relief will be treated as one-off income for the purposes of Social Housing and HAP means assessments; whether Revenue classifies these refunds strictly as adjustments to tax liability rather than earnings; whether gui…

495. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide information and clarification about a cost rental housing issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69356/25]

499. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will, in cooperation with Approved Housing Bodies, establish dedicated phone numbers and email addresses for Oireachtas members to contact AHBs to obtain policy information and to raise constituents’ issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69495/25]

502. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the 70,000 social homes and retrofits being built by the National Housing Plan could be equipped with smart devices that allowed surplus renewable energy to be used when available. [69716/25]

509. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he can provide a written update on the revising of county development plans for each of the 31 local authorities; if current development plan timelines will be extended to facilitate the upcoming variation to provide additional zoned lands to increase housing supply; and if he will make a statement on the mat…

513. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the rollout of retro-fitting State owned and local authority housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70092/25]

514. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority housing units, per local authority; the number of bedroom units per dwelling; and the number of these dwellings that have been the subject of retrofitting in the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70093/25]

515. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority housing units in each of the BER rating bands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70139/25]

792. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to the publication of her Department’s Sectoral Capital Plan 2026–2030 as part of the Government’s National Development Plan (NDP) to provide a breakdown of the proposed 112 key infrastructure developments for specialist disability services across the six health regions which include residential services …

316. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to publish a comparative league table of local authorities’ performance with regard to housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68584/25]

320. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the eligibility criteria under the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme (MARWP) 2024–2026 to allow communities with fewer than 25 houses, such as Glensaul, Tourmakeady, County Mayo, to access funding for community water connections; and if he will consider the urgent health and safety concerns fo…

I do not want this plan to fail. The future of our country, particularly for people my age, depends on it. At last this morning, we have a new housing plan but I have never seen any government take so long to come up with so little. This time last year, the Government deliberately misled the electorate in terms of the housing targets. During the election, the Government never publicised its plans …

The fate of hundreds of thousands of young people, workers, families and those with a disability relies on what the Government will publish in its new plan for housing tomorrow. It is not a dramatic statement to say that young people are leaving our shores, workers with good jobs and decent incomes have zero hope of being able to buy, workers of all ages are condemned to a rental market with exorb…

I welcome the Minister to the House this evening and I welcome the opportunity to discuss, once again, social protection and the recent budget. In responding to budget 2026 previously in this House, I described it as a punch in the stomach for many working families and unfortunately, I must repeat that here in this debate today. Budget 2026 needed to deliver real and radical policy changes towards…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to require the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to produce a report on the appointment of an emergency independent inspector for Dublin Zoo. I am introducing this Bill in an effort to highlight a range of very serious issues at the zoo. None of them has been properly investigated, despite repeated attempts by co…

I thank all Members who made contributions. I listened to them very carefully. Deputy Carthy started off talking about long delays in cases that involve sexual violence. I think Deputies Ward and Ó Murchú mentioned that as well. It can be the case that there are lengthy delays when it comes to complaints made to An Garda Síochána about sexual offences. If we think about what the Garda is required …

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I compliment him on his passion and advocacy for key infrastructure projects in his constituency and for raising the requirement for investment in infrastructure, and its delivery, to become key priorities for the Government. He earlier raised the issues with large-scale renewable energy projects so this very much follows from that. As hig…

I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this important issue and for offering me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who is not here today. Increasing the provision of disability residential services is a key priority for the Government and the HSE. All Deputies across the House will have specific cases relating to the many families who are finding challenges …

Yesterday's report from the Department of Finance said that the housing disaster will continue for another 15 years. That seems to be an optimistic forecast based on housing delivery doubling to 60,000 by 2030. We are facing 30 years of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil housing failure unless their housing plans radically change or they are removed from office. The lives of generations of people in this c…

If we ever wanted more proof that the Government has its priorities all wrong, this Bill is it. On a day when the Minister for housing announced a war on dereliction and vacancy, it is a joke. It would be funny if it were not so serious. We have a Finance Bill that does absolutely nothing to tackle either. The housing Minister's war on dereliction will start in two years' time, but for the next tw…

I completely back my colleague, Deputy O' Callaghan. The Minister talked about politics of the lowest kind. Politics of the lowest kind is to allow over 5,000 children to be homeless every single year and to vote, year after year, against implementing an eviction ban. The Minister is a Minister of homelessness. He stands over all the things he been done in this country, all the great development, …

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute with the following: "Dáil Éireann declines to give the Education (Amendment) Bill 2024 a second reading consequent on Dáil Éireann's passage of the following motion on 16th October, 2025: notes that: — a child's right to education is enshrined in the Constitution and, under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Pe…

I listened to both Deputies. I acknowledge the complete sincerity of the work Deputy Ó Murchú is doing. Others must judge my character but I would like to think that I am open. I do not have a monopoly on wisdom but I have a monopoly on experience and want to make sure that we are doing the best we can. I will outline a number of things we are doing. I outlined the Government's concern about the…

I thank the Minister of State for being here with us today to discuss a very important matter for the constituency of Cork South West, namely, the many areas of flooding and, in particular, the Bantry, Ballylickey and Ballinascarthy flood relief schemes. This morning, I was talking to somebody from Bantry. They said that in 1983, 42 years ago, they had to sit in a shop with their legs up in the ai…

This is an issue not just for Donegal but for the entire country. A precedent is being set by the way the Government is dealing with this issue. I want to send solidarity to all the homeowners and people affected by this issue in Donegal. There are often attempts in this House and outside it to divide and rule between people from so-called urban areas and rural areas. The reality is that I live in…

The motion today is supported by all the Opposition parties because they all recognise the huge difficulty for homeowners the length and breadth of the country in a number of counties, including Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Clare and a whole lot of others. Many of the people who produced the concrete products shared them with other quarries and other providers. In many places, we will find that they have…

I wish to address the remarks of the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, about how he has got this "to where it is today". I will clarify where it is today. We have a scheme right now that has 74 houses that are completed. Another 70 have received outer-leaf remediation work only and still retain the blockwork. This amounts to approximately 140 houses, half of which will have to be redone at gr…

Yesterday the Taoiseach was asked about the Baggot Street Hospital, which is an iconic State-owned building in our city centre that has scandalously been left to fall into dereliction. Councillor Dermot Lacey and I have been raising the need for it to be given new life and given over to housing for years. I have heard of a private joke in one Department regarding robust campaigning by Labour repre…

I move: That Dáil Éireann has confidence in the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, Simon Harris T.D. I am conscious that at the centre of all of this is real human anguish. There is the grief of Harvey Morrison Sherratt's parents, Gillian and Stephen, and his wider family circle and there is the anguish of too many children and young people and their fa…

Of course we did not wait for the housing action plan. We have brought in a range of measures since the beginning of the year, most of which the Deputy has opposed, as she opposed most measures in respect of housing from the planning Act right through. This budget allocates significantly more resources again on very substantial State investment in housing - a 20% increase in overall funding to ho…

I will give the Minister another figure if he wants to burn money instead of building houses. It costs on average €87,500 to keep a family in a hotel in emergency accommodation. That is what we are spending, and it is only €31,000 to repair a boarded-up house. For years I thought the Government was over-smart, saying the market would solve the problem. I am now fully convinced that Fianna Fáil and…

I thank the Minister of State very much for being here so late at night. I know she will relay my concerns to the Minister. Many people, including me do not believe it is fair to lock a landlord into a rental agreement for six years. This failed in Scotland, where the authorities have gone back to the arrangement they had in 2016. I am concerned about the Minister of State’s figures because, to m…

The Tánaiste has acknowledged that there is a viability issue in terms of apartment construction. However, the Government has ignored the fact that this issue is having an impact right across the construction sector. That is why we have the paradox whereby we have a housing crisis but so little development, particularly in rural counties like Mayo. Housing commencements for the first six months of…

I am due to be sharing time with other Deputies, who will no doubt be here imminently. We are splitting 25 minutes between four of us. On a serious note, before I commence this debate, I sincerely and personally commend the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has left the Chamber. That sentiment was echoed by the Ceann Comhairle. Her closing line was an appeal to men of my generatio…

This budget represents the first of five budgets and is step one in the implementation of the programme for Government. It is not possible to deliver everything in year one. Financial changes, as anyone with a grasp the finance knows, happen over a period of time. This is something the public understand, but it is not recognised at all by much of the Opposition. This budget is possible because of …

I agree with what Deputy Timmins has said. I will fire a shot across the bows of the Opposition because no one has bothered to turn up tonight. When people are watching this on TV at home Opposition Deputies are the first people to point the finger when the benches are a bit light on this side of the House. Their absence is either an endorsement of the budget or they could not be bothered to turn …