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133. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will examine measures to support the continued availability of rental accommodation to households in receipt of the housing assistance payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53827/25]

134. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding being provided for social housing under Budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53824/25]

135. Deputy Seán Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on if social housing applicants should be able to move their application from one local authority to another on personal or compassionate grounds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53634/25]

231. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to put affordability central to housing policy; his plans to ensure the majority of new homes are genuinely affordable i.e. below current market prices and rents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53908/25]

232. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the means by which he will ensure that any party reform or planning policy does not simply favour large developers at the expense of local communities, quality standards and affordability, given that the Central Bank has publicly stated that planning rules, not financial constraints, are now the principal barrie…

233. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason he believes he can credibly claim that its housing strategy is working when homelessness and emergency accommodation figures, particularly among children, are at a record high; and the specific trigger points and corrective mechanisms are in place to adjust policy if these outcomes continue to worsen.…

238. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason responsibility for regeneration of Dolphin House, Dublin 8, transferred from Dublin City Council to the Land Development Agency; and if he can reassure the community that commitments entered into by the local authority in terms of social, affordable homes will be confirmed, and the associated com…

242. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total expenditure in 2024 on social and affordable housing funded through SHIP, CALF, CAS, AHF, CREL, AHB borrowing and LDA expenditure, in tabular form. [54052/25]

244. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the case of a person (details supplied) who has applied for housing support under the cost rental tenant-in-situ scheme; if he will provide an update on the status of this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54078/25]

246. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current status of Government plans to introduce minimum building energy rating standards in the private rental sector from this year, as committed to in Housing for All, noting that the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has already completed an assessment on the investment required for the in…

249. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the Government's new housing plan will be published. [54175/25]

250. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans to amend the status of a HAP tenant as having their housing needs met when they are in receipt of HAP. [54176/25]

265. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on Government spending on the long-term housing scheme from the start of scheme to now; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52957/25]

270. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the prohibitions that exist preventing local authorities selling Part V, social housing acquisitions and other social homes purchased from the private market under the tenant purchase scheme; and to list each prohibition and provide a summary of its rationale. [53057/25]

271. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has calculated the proportion of households by income decile that are priced out of purchasing the average three-bed semi-detached house nationally and in each region, given a website's (details supplied) estimate the average price is €421,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [531…

273. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current ratio of average house price to average disposable household income in each county; the comparable figures in 2015 and 2020; and his Department's assessment of trends in affordability. [53110/25]

278. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the actions his Department is taking to address regional disparities in house price inflation, including rises of over 8% in Connacht-Ulster and 7.2% outside Dublin, as reported in the latest website (details supplied) survey. [53115/25]

282. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the data he has available on the number of households that were rendered ineligible for social housing due to an uplift to the working families payment in January 2025. [53167/25]

283. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the social housing income thresholds will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53169/25]

284. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of times the income eligibility thresholds for social housing have been increased nationally in the past 15 years; the years in which those increases occurred; the increased that occurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53170/25]

287. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a homeowner whose appeal under the enhanced defective concrete blocks scheme is unsuccessful may subsequently apply for a full technical review of their application by the Housing Agency; under what legislative or administrative basis such a review would be carried out; and if he will make a statement on the …

293. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the current proposals by Cork City Council, Cork County Council and approved housing bodies for the provision of cost-rental homes for 2025 and 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53310/25]

299. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage given the lack of pace in zoning additional land for housing, the reason Sligo County Council has been left waiting for the finalisation of the draft Ministerial Order dated 8 November 2024, thus leaving the council unable to implement its development plan as adopted in autumn 2024; if he will issue the final m…

303. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of approved housing bodies owning and-or managing fewer than 50 residential units in the years 2010, 2020 and 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53346/25]

304. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if Afghani families who have been allowed to enter the state as part of “Community Support Programme” and who are in receipt of full social welfare benefits can be considered for standard local authority housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53354/25]

We do not need a single further unaffordable home, not a single one. What we need is affordable homes. I did not say they should all be social. I said they should all be affordable or social. The problem is that houses being delivered with rents of €3,500 or for €600,000 or €700,000 are totally unaffordable to ordinary people, but are very good for investors. We are saying we need a State construc…

The Minister of State has been thrown into the deep end here on drones but I thank him for his contribution. I appreciate the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, being here earlier on and making his own contribution, and hearing mine and those of some of the Deputies. I am grateful to Deputies, from Dublin West and other areas, for addressing this matter. I am not happy with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's …

I thank all the Deputies who spoke in support of this motion and also those who did not speak but who I know support it. Regardless, I am very disappointed by the Government’s response. I know I am not alone and that I speak for tens of thousands of disabled people when I say it is a great shame that the Government has not sought to support them adequately this winter. The Minister spoke of a supp…

The Government’s infrastructure plan is devoid of action with no new ambition but rather it slightly alters existing systems and has little in the way of new ideas. The State has crumbling infrastructure, a housing crisis compounded by the failures of successive housing Ministers and a planning system that is not fit for purpose. In the mid-west, many infrastructure projects have been glacially s…

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the death of Mike Quill, the great union leader in New York who worked in that city's subway system for many years. He always preached an anti-racist message. He was involved in the struggle for the country of his birth, fighting in the War of Independence, and the struggle for his fellow workers in New York. Everywhere we turn, we se…

I am glad to have an opportunity to ask the Minister of State to prioritise a number of projects in Kerry. The N72 leaves Killarney, going from Ballydowny to the Golden Nugget, and then goes around the Ring of Kerry from the Gap across to Grenagh. It is otherwise known as the Killalee project. These two sections of road are in a desperate state. The road from the Golden Nugget to the Gap Cross ha…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am very pleased to introduce the International Protection Bill 2026 to the House. Migration has been a distinctive feature of Ireland’s history. Few countries in Europe have been as affected by emigration over the past two centuries as Ireland, with millions having left in search of safe haven, economic prosperity and opportunities not afforde…

In preparation for the commencement of the Act, my Department has already begun to operate elements of the new asylum border procedure and to transition gradually to fully implementing the provisions that will be set out in this legislation. This transition is being undertaken within the framework of the existing legislation, which is the International Protection Act 2015. To begin this transition…

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our deepest sympathies to Grace Lynch's family. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, boyfriend and extended community today. This Government was elected on promises that it was addressing the housing disaster. Many people struggling to buy and rent a home believed it. They took the Taoiseach at his word, they trusted him and many of them voted fo…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. Clogher House is a day activation unit premises based in Rathcorrick, County Cavan. The HSE advises that there is a comprehensive submission for capital funding for new day services and for premises to replace Clogher House, in line with the national HSE new directions policy for adult day services approved in 2024. HSE disability services …

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: A. To insert the following after "expansion and imperialist ambitions": ", constituting a serious breach of international law and the sovereignty of a United Nations member state; B. To insert the following after "rights of the Ukrainian people": "and is grounded in international law and the protection of civilians;". C. To insert the following af…

I really welcome Sinn Féin bringing this motion forward. I welcome the fact the Government is not opposing it. I thank Deputy Cullinane and Deputy Sorca Clarke for their calls for reform. This morning, I spoke at an event for Movember. I was not invited there just because I have a moustache. Before I got involved in politics, when I was shouting from the outside of this House during lockdown, I ra…

I thank the Deputy. I was humbled and in awe as well at the strength of Siobhán Lynch in what she said, having gone through such a traumatic event in her life. The Taoiseach said today that there is nothing we can really say that will alleviate the pain she and her husband, Martin, are going through. I received an email this afternoon from Grace's aunt, Rachel, who raised a number of issues with m…

I made it very clear and the Minister knows that we have alternatives. We set out a State fund that would actually increase funding for, not vulture funds but public affordable housing. The Government is completely out of touch and the Minister is too, to be honest. He has been captured. He has gone into the Ministry for housing and been captured by the investor funds. This is how clear it is that…

I thank Deputy Gogarty. The Government, as he said, recently published its new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, which aims to deliver 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030. Under pillar 1, it says that to increase the supply of additional housing, action 4.8 commits to increasing the number of development types that are exempt from planning, in order to ensure we have the flexi…

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this important issue around allowing developers to construct wastewater treatment facilities. I know it is a matter he has raised on a number of occasions. Following Government approval of this initiative, my Department is working closely with key stakeholders, including Uisce Éireann, to establish a framework allowing builders and private developers to construct…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 156 together. My Department provides funding under the suite of housing adaptation grants for older people and disabled people to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. This suite of grants, which include the housing adaptation grant for disabled people, the mobility aids grant and the housing aid for olde…

Affordability is the single biggest housing issue in County Meath. So many people who are working are above the social housing threshold but they cannot get a mortgage. The numbers the Minister talks about are nowhere near enough. In addition, they are not affordable. I can give the example of Foxwood Park in Kells that is about to come on stream. I am sure they are fine houses and the people who…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030 is Ireland’s new housing plan. It is a wide-ranging action plan, focused on housing supply and targeting homelessness. The plan is centred on eight priorities, one of which includes increasing skills and supporting the adoption of modern methods of construction, MMC, in the residential construction sector,…

I welcome this opportunity to provide Members with an update on recent developments in international relations at what is an extremely important time. We face an unprecedented and unpredictable geopolitical context. The rules-based order on which our security and our prosperity, and that of our EU partners, depends is increasingly under challenge. Russia's brutal war in Ukraine, in particular, con…

Communities across the State, particularly rural communities, are paying the price for decades of underinvestment in our water and wastewater infrastructure. This leads to issues in terms of public health, the environment and particularly housing. A total of 70% of the land that is zoned for housing in County Galway cannot be built on because of infrastructural deficits, including water and wastew…

The announcement earlier this week by the Minister that the Bunlicky wastewater treatment plant is to be upgraded with construction commencing in 2028 is very welcome news. The population of Limerick and its surrounds is increasing at a very fast rate and this upgrade should help, should the Government deliver on its planned housing targets. While based on the performance in previous years, I doub…

We urgently need to invest in our decrepit water infrastructure. It is totally inadequate to deal with the housing needs we have, with almost half of the water leaking out of the pipes because of Victorian and decrepit infrastructure. We need a water system that is responsive to the needs of people rather than one that refuses to get back to or talk to the public or its representatives. Instead o…

As every Deputy knows, if we put down a question in this House about Irish Water now, we will get a message back from the Ceann Comhairle's office telling us we are not entitled to an answer. Who, then, is responsible for Irish Water? Does the buck stop with the Minister or a State body? That is the first question that needs to be addressed in this House, and it needs to be sorted because somebody…

I want to raise an important issue that does not relate to Uisce Éireann or group water schemes. It is about houses that are not supplied on the public system or group water schemes. There are quite a number of such houses around the country. I believe there are around 100,000. In the valley of Glensaul in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, are 15 houses. I have been working with this community to try to g…