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666. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of households assessed as high medical priority for housing; the number accommodated in 2023 and 2024; and the targets for addressing this group under Delivering Homes, Building Communities. [63943/25]

667. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding allocated in 2023, 2024, and 2025 for housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities; the number of grants awarded; the average turnaround time; and whether funding will be increased to meet rising demand. [63944/25]

668. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of supported housing units planned for delivery nationally to 2030; the expected annual output; and the specific projects planned for Cork city and Cork county. [63945/25]

670. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the share of new social housing units completed in 2023 and 2024 that meet universal design standards; the expected rate of compliance to 2030; and whether the Department plans to increase universal design requirements. [63947/25]

673. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the additional construction cost per unit arising from current climate and energy-efficiency standards; the cost assumptions used in Delivering Homes, Building Communities; and whether these costs pose delivery risks for social and affordable housing. [63951/25]

674. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the annual retrofit targets for social housing to 2030; the number of retrofits completed in 2023 and 2024; and the expected cost of meeting all retrofit commitments. [63952/25]

675. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of social housing units currently below BER C; the number upgraded in 2023 and 2024; and the plan to bring the remainder to compliance by 2030. [63953/25]

676. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether embodied carbon calculations are required for housing projects funded by the State; the method used; and how embodied carbon considerations informed the design of Delivering Homes, Building Communities. [63954/25]

678. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether energy network capacity, including electricity grid upgrades, is sufficient to support the new housing targets; and the planned upgrades required for Cork city and Cork county. [63956/25]

679. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing projects delayed due to climate-related regulatory requirements, including flood-risk assessments and environmental impact processes; and the actions planned to reduce these delays. [63957/25]

680. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the additional cost imposed on housing delivery by NZEB standards; the inflation impact of these standards; and whether the Department has assessed the cumulative cost for all units to 2030. [63958/25]

681. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the projected cost of climate-adaptation measures required to protect new housing developments in urban areas, including Cork city and surrounding flood-prone zones; and how these costs were factored into the strategy's delivery projections. [63959/25]

683. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether Cork City Council and Cork County Council have zoned sufficient residential land to meet the housing targets allocated to the region; and if not, what actions will be taken to ensure compliance. [63961/25]

684. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the housing delivery targets in Delivering Homes, Building Communities align with the capacity set out in each local authority Development Plan; and where discrepancies exist, the changes that are required. [63962/25]

685. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reasons for delays in implementing zoning objectives in Development Plans; the number of housing sites delayed due to unresolved zoning issues; and the steps being taken to expedite zoning compliance. [63963/25]

689. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of Housing Land Availability zonings currently prevented from activation due to wastewater, water, road, or transport capacity; and the measures planned to address these infrastructure gaps. [63967/25]

692. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing units that have been realised in the past five years from projects that availed of the vacant homes refurbishment grant in County Wicklow and County Wexford, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64003/25]

944. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of older people and disabled persons assessed as medically fit for discharge from hospitals or nursing homes but awaiting suitable housing; and the measures included in Delivering Homes, Building Communities to address delayed discharges linked to housing shortages. [63949/25]

309. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a breakdown of the entitlement of each category of affected house on the defective block scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62422/25]

310. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which he will end the housing crisis within his term as Minister; his plans to achieve this goal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62447/25]

311. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the social housing allocation for County Wicklow and County Wexford for 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62448/25]

317. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the development of a single stage approval process for social and affordable housing delivery. [62505/25]

320. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an unprecedented large investment will now be made through Uisce Éireann and Local Authorities to progress the provision of modern, increased capacity, wastewater treatment plants in all of our towns and villages, as the present situation is having a highly negative effect on health, the environment and hou…

322. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total amount provided to local authorities for vacant social housing acquisitions in each of the years 2020 to 2024 and to date in 2025; and the number of such acquisitions purchased in each year. [62517/25]

87. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the engagement she and her officials have had in 2025 with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with respect to changing or improving planning rules to ensure delivery of childcare facilities in housing developments; the progress she can report on this; and if she will make a statement on the ma…

Like my colleagues, I would have serious concerns about the timescale with regard to this legislation and, as has been said, the notion that we have a dedicated AI committee and yet the only scrutiny, as such, was done by the enterprise committee. I sit on the enterprise committee. The AI committee has done a tremendous amount of work since its establishment and its members are really invested in …

My amendments relate to section 9(1)(c), which sets out the function of the office to “promote and foster AI innovation and literacy” and tries to provide more clarity as to what that will look like and mean. Perhaps in her reply to the Minister of State might address the two subsequent provisions of the Act, namely, sections 10 and 11. One is about the Minister’s ability to give an order to the …

I move amendment No 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "welcomes the significant prioritisation by the Government of measures designed to: — reduce out-of-pocket costs of early learning and childcare for families; — better align the supply of State-subsidised early learning and childcare with demand; and — increase the pay and improve the working conditi…

It is simply not the case that the Minister’s Department is already undertaking the key actions recommended in this report. If that were the case, we would not have wasted our time producing the report. Month on month, the number of adults, children, single people and pensioners falling into emergency accommodation is growing. That means the core recommendation of the report that we now need an em…

The report called for the Minister to extend the youth homelessness strategy out to 2030. My understanding is that despite the fact the strategy expired last year, there is no intention to extend it. Yes, the Minister is working on the child homelessness strategy but there is no sight of it. Will it be out this year? Is there a clear timeline? Can the Minister confirm that? On the housing action …

We are dealing with it as an emergency response. Last year, we saw a 20% increase in housing delivery overall and the highest number of social houses built in a single year in the history of the State. We are putting in record funding to address the housing crisis. Many of the measures highlighted in the report are already in the process of being implemented. I would remind the Deputy that, in hi…

I am not going to speak to an individual case but I am happy to look into the details of the case if the Deputy wants to provide me with them. We had an eviction ban in this country before and supply just dropped off a cliff. An eviction ban sounds very favourable to those who are currently renting but it creates a cliff edge. What is the Deputy going to do in two or three years’ time when he bri…

I thank the Deputy for this question about income eligibility thresholds for social housing support. Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority in accordance with the eligibility and needs criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 re…

Deputy Stanley makes an important point. We are asking local authorities to rezone a significant amount of land to deliver additional housing. I encourage local authorities to complete this process. I am not happy with the time that many local authorities are taking in what is a housing crisis. I do not believe many local authorities have been treating it as such with the delays in delivering addi…

I thank the Minister very much for his response. I will go through the specific statistics relating to County Kildare afterwards. I thank the Minister for the information. I welcome the announcement last week from the housing activation office and the Minister’s team. I also welcome the infrastructure we have in Kildare. The new bridge in Celbridge is an issue I raised when I was a county council…

Once again, I thank the Deputy for his contribution. A body of work is under way, as I stated, following on from defined actions under housing for older people section of Delivering Homes, Building Communities. We have committed to a review of the operation of the existing local authority financial contribution schemes and to have it as a real, evidence-based, substantive body of work. We commissi…

I am looking forward to meeting Valerie O'Sullivan, our city chief executive, and informing her that the Government will make moneys available for housing plans for older people. There is another elephant in the room which I want to make the Government aware of, that is, people who lost their houses back in the 2008 to 2009 period. They are now in rented accommodation and back on their feet. Some …

This is the second Bill I will discuss this week which will act to tear holes in our country's climate ambition. It is doing that on a week when we are seeing the realities of the scale of climate change across Europe, with heat impacting on so many countries and making life intolerable for millions of people. The irony of this is lost on the Government, which is rushing through this legislation a…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this matter for debate. It is something I am very interested in and is something that communities across the State and in my constituency are very interested in. They struggle to understand why we cannot do better on it. It is about access to playing pitches, playgrounds and public green space. In my home county of Meath during the 20 years betwee…

I thank all Deputies for their contributions and for their genuine advocacy and work in this area. I recognise the real hurt and anger right across the country of homeowners who have been impacted by legacy defects as a result of defective concrete blocks. I want to put that on record. As the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, have said previously, the Governme…

The scheme for pyrite. There are different grades. People might get grade 1 or grade 4 or 5. One of the grades is where people are told their roof is okay but their block walls have to come out. What people are being asked to do is prop up the house and take out the walls down to the foundation level, which means the footpaths and floors collapse. It is specialised work. When we work out the econo…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate and to mark Pride. Pride is at the heart about people. It is about recognising the dignity, worth and equality of every person in our society. It is about ensuring that people can live their lives openly, safely and authentically without fear of discrimination, intimidation or abuse. Ireland has come a long way. Many people in this House will reme…

I thank everybody for their contributions, their helpfulness and their thoughtfulness in their statements, comments and observations. It has been a very wide and varied discussion. AI inevitably touches almost every aspect of society, from innovation and economic growth to public services and jobs. While these are important and wide-ranging issues, today we are here to introduce this legislation, …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on NAMA performance 7.The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the performance of NAMA including a specific analysis on the potential for higher returns to the State had the property portfolio been managed for longer…

I will share my time with Deputy Smith. This is an aggressively anti-climate Bill. This Government is making it clear to us that climate, environment or biodiversity considerations have absolutely no place when it comes to our aviation policy. It is ironic that we are debating this proposal to add potentially limitless additional carbon into our atmosphere on the same day that we are suffering wit…

I thank Deputy Currie. She is correct when she says that 96% is regarded as a very high uptake of the ECCE services, but it is our aspiration to reach 100%. I am aware that a number of ECCE-only services have been receiving rates-payable notifications from their local authorities. The Department, and others, have previously advised the sector that ECCE-only services are exempt from paying commerci…

I agree with a variety of things the Deputy said but I fundamentally disagree with the baloney and spin coming from some local authority officials in relation to dereliction. Deputy Sheehan represents a county and city with an excellent record in tackling dereliction. Last time I checked this country has one national set of laws. It is quite simple; I am not buying into this idea that all local au…

I am really confused with the Deputy's position on dereliction because he is defending the system rather than the people the system is meant to represent. People are being let down by inactivity on the derelict sites levy. I gave the Deputy an open goal and said his own council is doing a great job. Limerick is one of the best. It has no superpowers the rest of the country does not have except may…

I begin not with policy, but with people. I acknowledge with sincerity and respect the people across Ireland who are living with a rare disease and the parents, partners, children, siblings, carers, families and friends who walk that journey with them every single day. The Government is committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases. That means working to support earlier diag…

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I acknowledge all of the groups that have reached out to me and to my office. We all have a responsibility to do everything possible to ensure that all the people of Ireland can get the best treatments, medicines and supports available. I want to highlight specific conditions which have already been mentioned. Members of the Frie…