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148. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the engagement undertaken with approved housing bodies and other social housing providers in relation to the operation of the DION system; the number of complaints or formal representations received; the actions taken in response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44533/26]

1019. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the income thresholds applied under the social housing assessment bands, specifically the disparity between Mayo band 3 and Galway band 2, in light of evidence that Mayo band 3 thresholds are significantly lower; and if he will take steps to ensure greater consistency, fairness, and responsive…

1031. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider increasing the social housing income threshold to reflect the real cost of living and housing crisis in Ireland today (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41723/26]

1067. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the guidance given to local authorities and AHBs regarding rent setting for social housing; if there is any guidance regarding service charges in social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42397/26]

1082. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage which recommendations of the Report of the Housing Commission relating to the funding, management and maintenance of social housing have been accepted by Government; and the timeline for their implementation. [42555/26]

1083. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider the recommendation of the Housing Commission and of published academic research that local authority rental income be ring-fenced for the management and maintenance of social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42556/26]

1122. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the regulations, circulars or instructions regarding HAP tenants; the housing lists they exist on; and whether they can be added to a specific list for overcrowded social housing tenants. [43412/26]

1128. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether their Department has issued any guidance, circular, policy direction, interpretation note or advice to local authorities regarding the treatment, for social housing eligibility and housing need assessment purposes, of proceeds received by applicants following the sale, transfer, buyout or settlement of a…

1129. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether their Department has undertaken any assessment, review, consultation or examination of the consistency with which local authorities apply social housing eligibility and housing need rules in cases involving victims of domestic abuse who have received proceeds from the sale, transfer or settlement of a fa…

1160. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which housing demand projections account for population increases arising from naturalisation, given that social housing data does not distinguish between Irish-born and naturalised citizens. [43988/26]

1161. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the absence of data on naturalised citizens accessing housing supports represents a gap in housing policy planning; and the steps that will be taken to address this. [43992/26]

1165. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the review of the 2017 policy and procedural guidance for housing authorities assisting victims of domestic violence was completed; the recommendations arising from that review; when revised guidance will issue to local authorities; and whether the forthcoming protocol will allow victims fleeing domestic, s…

392. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 1694 of 14 April 2026, to clarify the details of the purchase made by Cork City Council of the counting house property using Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) funding; to detail the amount of land included in this purchase; to clarify if URDF funding was used to…

130. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to that the assistant chief executive of Dublin City Council informed the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage that Dublin City Council submit the results of housing maintenance surveys to the Department through IT infrastructure (details supplied); and i…

182. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he is taking to address the growing gap between wages and house prices, including the affordability gap facing first-time buyers and renters; and the further policy or legislative measures planned to improve housing affordability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37221/26]

193. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount allocated to each local authority in 2024 and 2025 under the housing adaptation grant for older people and people with a disability, the mobility aids grant, and the housing aid for older people schemes; the amount drawn down by each local authority in those years; the level of underspend, recorded …

204. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on funding for inner city regeneration projects; if he will acknowledge the need for housing regeneration to have a separate and distinct funding stream to housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37552/26]

228. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total amount of public expenditure on Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and other rent supports paid directly to private landlords in each of the past five years; the proportion of these payments made to landlords owning multiple properties; and whether he has assessed the long-term cost-effectiveness of thi…

625. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 513 of 6 May 2026, if supports are available to a person who has already received approval for social housing but has been issued with a social housing income assessment and has literacy vulnerabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37596/26]

636. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessment that has been undertaken regarding the balance between reliance on second-hand acquisitions as a last-resort measure and the delivery of newly built social housing; whether projected increases in social housing construction are expected to reduce future reliance on acquisitions programmes; and if …

337. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of five council owned houses in Swinford that have been lying vacant for approximately two years; the reasons refurbishment works have not yet been completed; and when these homes will be made available to families on the housing list. [35806/26]

339. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how he justifies council-owned houses remaining vacant for extended periods while families and individuals are forced to stay in homeless shelters and emergency accommodation; and the measures being introduced to prevent prolonged vacancy of local authority housing stock. [35808/26]

107. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his Department's plan to address the housing needs of people with an intellectual disability who are cared for at home by parents and family members aged 70 and over; the plans in place to address the housing needs of these individuals when their carers pass away or can no longer care for them; and if he will mak…

108. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to advise if approved housing bodies that provide housing for tenants with specific needs, such as people with disabilities and those exiting homelessness, can access CALF and P and A funding streams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35566/26]

109. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail the funding provided to approved housing bodies that provide housing for tenants with disabilities through CALF and P and A funding streams for the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35567/26]

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the Final Draft Revised National Planning Framework, as approved by the Government on 8th April, 2025; a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 22nd April, 2025 together with the Strategic Environmental Assessment Environmental Report, the Post-Consultation Natura Impact Statement, the Post-Consultation Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Report, and the Appr…

I will be sharing time with my colleague, Deputy McGuinness. Statutory planning frameworks are enormously important. They not only set out a clear and legally defined basis for the entire hierarchy of plans, including the regional plans, the city and county development plans and local area plans, but they also provide a long-term strategic framework for investment and delivery of much-needed infr…

I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. The empty Government benches are indicative of the Government's lack of seriousness in dealing with the housing issue and its lack of willingness to listen to new ideas. This Friday is St. Valentine's Day, and we all know who will be getting the flowers and chocolates from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Valentine's card has gone to the investor fun…

I move amendment No. 1: To insert after "on 2nd July, 2026": "and: further calls on the Government to provide that the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme shall apply only to: — existing recipients with respect to the beneficiaries of temporary protection currently benefitting from the scheme where those beneficiaries of temporary protection have satisfied a means test similar to th…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme (DCB Scheme), which provides grants to help those affected by defective concrete blocks to remediate their homes, is underpinned by the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (2022 Act); — over 3,500 …

The Government narrative on this Bill is that it is largely a technical Bill that is going to put on a statutory footing what is already the practice in terms of eligibility criteria on residency and habitual residency for social housing. It is just technical and it is a tidying-up exercise, providing a little bit more efficiency for decisions of the RTB in the second instance. There is nothing to…

I thank all Deputies for their contributions. Addressing homelessness and increasing the supply of homes required to do so is my absolute priority. The programme for Government is committed to working towards ending homelessness by 2030. To meet this commitment, Delivering Homes, Building Communities was developed as an integrated housing and homeless plan. The new plan is based on two key pillars…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." On 27 January 2026, the Government approved the publication of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026. This Bill will amend the current system of rent controls significantly and provide new measures to protect tenants, including a no-fault eviction ban for larger landlords, reduced grounds for smaller landlords and stronge…

Everyone one of the speakers is talking correctly. They have the experience. I have taken out the front of buildings with 300 or 400 tonnes of stone propped over the buildings. For a semi-detached house - it depends on the era it was built in - there could a 6 in. or 9 in. block wall in the middle separating them or there could be a stud wall built up between them with fire-lined boards on both si…

The overhaul of residential tenancies legislation was intended to protect tenants through changes to rent controls and the expansion of tenant protections. However, it is very clear that, since the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2025 updates were introduced in June 2025 with the intention of stabilising rent prices, they have created a bigger problem as many tenants have been given notice t…

The Department's budget package for 2026 sees some €11.275 billion allocated across my Department, Tailte Éireann and an Coimisiún Toghcháin. Housing capital investment has reached a record €9 billion. We have introduced a 29% increase for Uisce Éireann to advance water infrastructure and facilitate housing development. We have significantly increased our funding allocation of €563 million to supp…

I am not sure if the Minister of State was baiting me in order to try to get me to go further, but I will try to remain on my best behaviour. Seriously, though, I am very disappointed with the Government's opposition to the Bill. What is particularly disappointing is the lack of serious engagement on the legislation. As my colleague outlined, we have put forward solutions. While the Government mig…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 to 34, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Thursday 5 June and is due to meet again on Monday 21 July. The committee works to ensure a cross-Government approach to the implementation of our commitments in respect of housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years, with almost 140,000 new hom…

The housing crisis is no longer a crisis; it is a social catastrophe. It is an emergency, as the Government has accepted. However, Government actions - cutting key housing projects, suspending funding and gutting homelessness prevention schemes - tell a very different story. Instead of rising to meet this catastrophe, the Government is failing time and time again. That is because its policies crea…

I am glad to have the opportunity to talk about housing again tonight. Since I came up here in 2016, we have been talking about it constantly. Every man and woman who has sat here in the Dáil has talked about housing but little has changed. I want to speak about vacant properties. I spoke about this last year, the year before and recently but the story is the same. There are vacant houses and pro…

There is a housing emergency in this State. Whatever way the Government tries to spin it, that is what we have. Whether someone is a house buyer, renter or waiting on the council to provide a house, he or she will find they face a challenging and often very long course. Limerick has seen rents increase by an astonishing 75% since 2020 and house purchase prices have increased by 44% since 2019. Man…

The so-called housing tsar debacle has left more questions than answers, and not just about salary either. The Minister for housing has been very quiet in responding to these questions. We need to hear from him in the Dáil. He must come to us to explain how he proposes his new housing activation office will work. He cannot leave explanations to the Minister of State with responsibility for nature …

The Government's response and amendment, while not unexpected, are nonetheless hugely disappointing, and even shocking, because there is absolutely no acceptance of the depth and breadth of what is an intolerable housing emergency. This emergency started with the privatisation of the local authority house building programme by a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, back in the early 2000s. Many of…

Last year, the Department of Finance published figures that highlighted that an annual output of 50,000 new homes would require funding of €20.4 billion a year, with the majority of this money coming from private development, including public funding. We know that record public funding has been put in for 2025. In order to get our housing market working, there are two key elements that internation…

-----throughout this debate to hear this motion. That is very disappointing and if it is a sign of things to come, it is not a way to start off this Dáil term. Nevertheless, I am delighted to move this motion, the Labour Party’s first Private Members' motion of the Thirty-fourth Dáil. This motion calls for and sets out our vision for the radical reset in housing policy as called for in the Govern…

I am sure the Minister of State is aware but we are really only having this debate because of the housing crisis being created by his Government and its policies. Notwithstanding that, there are many consequences of its housing crisis and this is one. It does not affect an awful lot of people but for those it does, the impact on them is absolutely huge. The Minister of State cited all the difficu…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026 before the House. The main purpose of this Bill is to support the smooth commencement of the remaining provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024 later this year and to provide clarity and further policy direction on a number of matters that have already commenced i…

I thank the Deputy. Under Delivering Homes, Building Communities, the Government is targeting the delivery of 300,000 new homes by 2030, including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable supports. The latest Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures released show that a total of 36,284 new dwellings were completed in 2025, an increase of 20% year on year, the highest annual total since the dataset…

First, in relation to the housing assistance payment and the Dublin Simon Community report that the Deputy referenced, I thank the Dublin Simon Community for the work it does. I thank it for the recognition in its commentary in relation to the tenancy protections we are putting in place in the legislation that passed in this House last night and now goes to the Seanad today. I thank it for the wor…

As I have stated previously, this Bill will be deeply damaging for renters. When we talk about renters, who are we talking about? We are talking about families, individuals and young people who are trying to work, go to school, go to college and live their lives. This Bill increases rents in a way that will absolutely hammer people. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Minister are completely disconnect…