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1029. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will confirm whether the properties in an area sampled by the Housing Agency meet the criteria for inclusion in the defective concrete blocks grant scheme; if he will outline the next steps for affected homeowners (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58428/25]

1034. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the income thresholds for social housing will be reviewed, in light of increases in social welfare payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58537/25]

1035. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 479 of 21 October 2025, the way in which the funding for housing programmes is made to local authorities as programmes and projects advance and relevant claims fall due for payment. [58573/25]

1036. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 479 of 21 October 2025, the details of any data collected in relation to funding for any social or affordable housing programme that is unspent by local authorities, or which has not been drawn down, after it has been approved. [58574/25]

1044. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he expects that new rural housing guidelines, which are currently in draft format, will be officially approved and become operational in all planning authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58629/25]

1051. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the defective block scheme for houses affected by pyrite will proceed (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58803/25]

1052. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the income assessment criteria for social housing eligibility, with particular reference to the including of the working family payment (WFP) in the calculation of assessable income; to consider introducing an income disregard for the WFP on the basis that it is a social welfare support for lo…

1053. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to increase the social housing eligibility thresholds nationally, particularly in light of recent increases in the working family payment and the ongoing cost-of-living pressures; if consideration is being given to introducing an annual review mechanism to ensure thresholds keep pace with inflation an…

1055. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the affordable housing projects which are due to be delivered over the next 24 months for counties Wicklow and Wexford, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58842/25]

1059. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing assistance payment applications/claimants with Somalian nationality from 2021 to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58862/25]

1065. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of funding applications by Cork City and Cork County Councils for social and affordable housing developments in the Cork north central constituency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58973/25]

1068. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when funding will be approved for the regeneration of older housing estates in Cork North Central, including Knocknaheeny, Farranree and Mayfield; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58976/25]

1070. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider expanding the croí cónaithe scheme to cover small towns like Mallow and Fermoy where housing vacancy remains high. [58979/25]

1071. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will provide ring-fenced funding for Cork County Council to deliver affordable housing developments on publicly owned land in the Mallow area. [58980/25]

1072. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures being taken to ensure fair and timely allocation of affordable homes delivered through approved housing bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58981/25]

1073. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide updated national targets for social housing completions for 2025; and to detail if they will be met. [58982/25]

1077. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the retrofitting programme for local authority housing in Cork city and county, particularly in older estates in Cork North-Central; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59019/25]

1078. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if funding will be made available to Cork City Council for retrofitting older housing estates in Cork north central as part of the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59022/25]

1079. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the number of social and affordable housing units currently under construction in Meath; and if he will outline projected completion dates for each development. [59100/25]

1081. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for details of any further delays experienced in the planning process for housing developments in Meath; the supports available to local authorities to streamline approvals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59102/25]

1084. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department provides specific funding to local authorities for the purposes of refurbishment of vacant social housing stock; if he will detail the amount which has been made available to Wicklow County Council and Wexford County Council for this purpose; the amount which has been drawn down in …

1085. 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. [59171/25]

1093. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reforms planned to reduce the timelines for planning application decisions for major housing and infrastructure. [59222/25]

1094. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has reviewed the governance structures of housing delivery agencies to ensure they are aligned with measurable output targets, rather than process-based metrics; and if so, the details of that review. [59223/25]

1104. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has responded to the request by Leitrim County Council for funding support to deal with historic structural issues around an unfinished estate (details supplied); and if his will Department provide funding support for this unfinished housing estate. [59336/25]

We meet at a moment of enormous change in our economy, workplaces and society. Across every sector from manufacturing to medicine, construction to finance, agriculture to creative industries, technology is transforming how we work, learn and live. Artificial intelligence, automation, digitalisation and the green transition are not future challenges, they are present realities. While these changes …

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí. Cuirim fáilte ar ais go dtí an Teach roimh an Teachta Kyne. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis as a bheith tofa arís chuig an Seomra seo den Oireachtas. Nílim in ann glacadh leis na leasuithe. Leagann siad amach go bhfuil cumhacht agus taithí ag an údarás i leith cúrsaí tithíochta. Níl aon taithí ag an údarás ar chúrsaí tithíochta ag an bpointe seo. Níl scileanna aige ch…

I have asked the Taoiseach repeatedly about the social housing income thresholds, which have not been increased since 2023. Every year - indeed every month and every week - working people who have got a pay increase and who in some cases just get the working family payment are pushed over the limit. They might have been five, ten or 15 years on a housing list, and it is all gone. They are left in …

I again raise the issue of inheritance tax and the anomalies that exist for parents and their children on the one hand, and childless adults, their brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews on the other hand. Currently children inheriting a family home from their parents are exempted from tax on inheritances of up to €400,000, which, considering the price of homes currently, is undoubtedly far too low…

I have not interrupted anybody here. I am going to make this point, and it is a fair point. I have looked at the Deputy's proposals. There is nothing in her proposals that would increase supply over the next three years anything over and above what the Government is doing. In fact, it would be less. I have looked at her State construction company idea. It would be three or four years down the lin…

The average rent of a two-bedroom flat is now €2,176 a month. That is the highest on record. It is equal to €26,000 a year. Incredibly, a PAYE worker has to earn €32,000 just to be able to pay for that rent currently. The average rent in Dublin city is now heading towards €3,000 a month. That is eye-watering. It is incredible that now Dublin is the highest in the whole of the EU for one- and two-b…

The report yesterday on rents shocked a lot of people. I predicted, as did others, that this would happen but the scale of it has really shocked me. In County Laois a four-bedroom house has gone up 12.5% year on year, a three-bedroom one by 10% and a two-bedroom house, which is the type most in demand in the county, has gone up by 34%. That is in one year. Notices to quit are up and house prices a…

Rents are too high overall. No-one is arguing about that. There is a lot of pressure on people. Supply is the only way to deal with it. What I would say on the reforms that came in is that the six-year tenancy rule is a very significant enhanced protection for existing tenants. Nothing like it was in place before. We are dealing with new tenancies here in terms of the Daft.ie index, but the vast m…

I will continue with that noted. Last year, the so-called housing tsar plan collapsed under pressure and now the Government wants to fold an individual back into the NTMA while preserving the same extraordinary pay package. Contrast that for a moment with the National Ambulance Service workers who have been forced onto picket lines simply to secure modest improvements in pay and conditions and ad…

Since the Government was formed, nearly 2,000 eviction notices have been issued to renters in County Galway. Every week, people come to my constituency office who have received a notice to quit and have no idea where they will go because the rental market they face is totally unaffordable. Rents across the State have risen by 80% compared with ten years ago. Within the past year alone, the rent fo…

I ask the Minister of State to address the shocking case of a self-employed couple in Coolboy near the Wicklow-Wexford border, Ciarán and Jessie Redmond, and their two daughters Kendall and Chanelle. Chanelle has recently been diagnosed with leukaemia. Her father, Ciarán, a Gorey man, has been forced to give up his work as a painter and decorator to care for her. As they battle one unimaginable cr…

This Government's housing policy is not just a failure; it is outright betrayal of the Irish people. While Irish families are sleeping in their cars, or if they are lucky enough, in emergency accommodation, this Government has spent €9.2 million of taxpayers' money on accommodation for asylum seekers. Dozens and dozens of properties bought, no problem at all. That is real homes, real apartments an…

I again thank the Deputy for his contribution. There is significant work being done around the rural housing guidelines and I thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, also. We are very much working together to ensure we can have liberalisation of rural housing that works for people in rural Ireland. We will bring forward those proposals in the very near future. In the meantime, w…

Is léiriú uafásach na figiúirí a foilsíodh inniu maidir le polasaí tithíochta an Rialtais. Sa chéad trí mhí don bhliain seo, tugadh 7,062 fógra díshealbhaithe do thionóntaí, an figiúr is airde a taifeadadh riamh. Tá sé seo suas níos mó ná 50% ar an tréimhse céanna an bhliain roimhe seo. Ní trí thimpiste atá sé seo ag tarlú. Tá na rátaí díshealbhaithe ag ardú as cuimse ó d’fhógair an Rialtas a chui…

I absolutely accept that when we live in a housing emergency people experience trauma. I also accept that we need to get private investment in to build houses and that not every house will be built by the taxpayer in this country. Private investment is a really important part of any sustainable housing market. We have a difference of view on that.

I have just received notice of what will be proposed for a massive increase in council rent in South Dublin County Council. It is looking to increase the basic rate of council rent by 25%. It will mean thousands of euro extra per year for many families at a time of a cost-of-living crisis that people simply will not be able to afford. It is not just South Dublin County Council. We have seen this i…

As my colleague stated, we support anything that improves the lot of business from the point of view of streamlining systems, services and grant application schemes. There are concerns about this legislation that I will deal with. The intent can be fine but unless we have the resourcing and capacity, we will have particular issues. At a meeting of the Good Friday Agreement committee recently, rep…

I thank the Minister of State but it is very clear the Department has not been listening or engaging with the local Coast Guard unit. The Minister of State said it himself. It is operating under licence, not even under a lease, in a local parochial house. By the way, in order for the vehicles to come out of that parochial house they have to go through the churchyard. When there is a wedding or a f…

That is a huge increase. That is because of the help to buy scheme, the first home scheme, and the derelict and vacant housing grant schemes, which are helping first-time buyers. The costs are too high but the only answer is supply. We need more and more supply. We need fewer people and political parties objecting to housing to make sure that we have sufficient housing to provide for the younger p…

I am used to dealing with the Minister for justice and I am used to dealing with convoluted ways of dealing with matters. There is clearly a habit of limiting democratic oversight and scrutiny of this House in announcing and bringing forward proposals at short notice; minimising the period of time for debate; guillotining important legislation; and moving things from committees to this Chamber rat…

As the only nurse in the Dáil, I stand here very proud. I am fortunate enough to have served on the board of St. James's Hospital, the largest hospital in the country. I am delighted that the Government agreed to have these statements on International Nurses Day and I thank the Minister and the Ministers of State. It is a first for the 100,000 plus nurses across this island, North and South. We ha…

I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for introducing this Bill. It is a very good Bill and works quite well. I was kind of shocked when I was reading it because I wondered should this not have been done a long time ago by previous Governments. I welcome it in that sense. The cliché every Member in this House is using is the phrase "heating or eating", but that is the truth. That is what is happenin…

In yesterday's Irish Independent newspaper, a headline read Ireland should seriously look at the option of nuclear power, says the Taoiseach. He said in Yerevan, and I quote the Taoiseach directly, "we certainly should look at and examine options like nuclear power seriously." I asked the Taoiseach the exact same question in the Chamber two weeks ago. His answer was that "the direction of travel …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, for being here today. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the long-awaited and much-needed scoping exercise on the disgusting paedophile Michael Shine. He abused his position. In a depraved manner, he took advantage of his perceived respectability, and the trust we usually place in the medical profession, to abuse hundreds of patients. Today, I ac…

I commend the residents, especially those here today, and all those who have to live in these unfit conditions. All of a sudden, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour has decided that there is an increase in their rent. If it is unfit, there should be no increase. In fact, there should be no rent for the conditions some of these tenants are living in, pure and simple. The council has been informed fo…