2026-05-06

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — Dublin City Council (DCC) has 6,000 flats across 100 complexes built from the 1930s to the 1960s; — due to poor maintenance by the Council, and underfunding by central government, living conditions in these flat complexes are amongst the worst in the city; — these sub-standard conditions have a significant impact on community cohesion and the well-being of residents, in particular, young people; — damp, mould, rodent infestation, chronic overcrowding and inadequate sports and community facilities, continue to blight the hard-working communities who live in these flat complexes; — in 2017, following a collective complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, by the residents of many of these flat complexes, the Irish Government was found to be in breach of Article 16 of the European Social Charter (Revised), which protects the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection, including the provision of adequate family housing; — despite valiant campaigning by residents, supported by the Community Action Network and the Communities of Practice, the conditions in these flat complexes have continued to deteriorate; — in 2023, DCC undertook a comprehensive engagement with communities in flat complexes, and produced a plan for the deep retrofit and regeneration of these flat complexes, to bring their homes in line with contemporary standards; — this plan is based on successful estate retrofit and regeneration, such as Killarney Court and the pilot project in Ballybough Court; — the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is refusing to fund the initial proposals for the retrofit and regeneration of these complexes in Pearse House and Oliver Bond House, on the spurious grounds that it would lead to a reduction in the number of homes in each complex; — this decision is now fatally undermining years of community consultation, and further delaying the bringing of these flat complexes up to legally required standards for rental accommodation; and — Dublin City Councillors from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the Green Party and some Independents voted for the recent Council Budget, which included significant rent increases for Council tenants, including those living in sub-standard accommodation in the inner-city flat complexes; and calls on the Government to: — reverse its current position of refusing to fund DCCs proposed retrofit and regeneration on the inner-city flat complexes; — put the views and needs of our strong and vibrant long-standing inner-city communities at the centre of all policy and funding decisions related to the retrofit and regeneration of the flat complexes; and — provide DCC with a dedicated team of staff, headed by a senior assistant director of service, with a comprehensive budget, to drive an accelerated programme of flat complex retrofit and regeneration. The flat communities of Dublin's inner city are not a problem to be managed. They are communities to be respected - communities built on resilience, solidarity and enormous pride. Let us tell the truth here this evening. For decades, these communities have been failed with families forced to live with damp, mould, chronic overcrowding and rodent infestations - conditions no Minister in this Government would tolerate for a single week or day. Yet these families have endured this for years because successive Governments lacked urgency and, more importantly, lacked respect. We are talking about the people of Ballybough, St. Michan's, Oliver Bond House and Pearse House. Across Dublin's inner city, these communities fought to be heard and after years of campaigning and engagement, finally there was a pathway forward. A regeneration plan was developed with residents and not imposed on them. We know that this is the approach that can work because we have already seen it in action. In Killarney Court in my constituency, regeneration transformed living conditions for residents and families while the pilot project in Ballybough Court shows what is possible when communities are listened to and properly supported so nobody in government can claim that this cannot be done. The problem is not the communities. The problem is the lack of political will and now the Government has pulled the plug. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has refused to fund the regeneration of Oliver Bond House and Pearse House because some flats would be amalgamated to meet modern living standards. That is an absurdity. Families are now living in overcrowded flats and parents are trying to raise families in conditions utterly unfit for modern life and the Minister's response is that the homes are too small to regenerate or that families should be forced to remain in inadequately small accommodation. This is bureaucratic cruelty masquerading as policy and is absolutely indefensible. The message it sends to working class communities is devastating which is that after all the consultation, promises and engagement, this Government is still not prepared to treat these communities equally. These are not abstract policy debates for us in Dublin Central. These communities are our neighbours. They are our communities. They are the people we represent. These communities are tired of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Ministers turning up occasionally for photographs and then disappearing when decisions have to be made. They are especially tired of being asked to pay more rent for sub-standard homes. Let us remember that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party all supported rent increases for council tenants while these same tenants continue to live in deplorable conditions. Families are paying higher rents while mould climbs their walls, overcrowding worsens and regeneration is delayed yet again. The people of Dublin's inner city deserve so much better than this. Let me say clearly that regeneration must never become code for displacement. Residents must remain central to every decision and communities must remain intact. Families must be guaranteed the right to remain with their communities, so really our motion is straightforward. The Government must reverse this disgraceful decision, fund the regeneration plans, provide Dublin City Council with the resources and the staffing necessary to accelerate this work and, most importantly, start treating the people of Dublin's flat complexes with the dignity, urgency and respect that they rightfully deserve because the people of the inner city have waited long enough - far too long - and they should not have to spend yet another decade fighting for what every family in this State should already have, namely, a safe, warm and decent home.

For decades, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have neglected Dublin city's and county's flat communities. I am talking about inner-city flat complexes like Pearse House, Oliver Bond House, St. Michan's House and Dolphin House but also suburban schemes like Cromcastle Court in Coolock and Balgaddy in my constituency. These are strong, vibrant and resilient communities that have been utterly failed by successive Governments. So bad were the failures that in 2014, residents from 20 council housing estates supported by the Community Action Network and others took the Irish Government to the European Committee of Social Rights. After listening to all the evidence and hearing the weasel words of Government, that committee found the Government and State were in breach of Article 16. It was failing to protect the rights of families to social, legal and economic protection, including the right to provision of adequate family housing by the State. That decision in 2017 finally meant Dublin City Council started to take action, with a report in 2018 and another report in 2020. In 2021, intensive negotiations began, led by residents of these communities and Dublin City Council. Over three years of enormous effort, a regeneration and deep retrofit plan was agreed. What did Government do then? In 2025, the first application for the retrofit of Pearse House was rejected on the grounds that it would see a reduction of units because you had to amalgamate homes to meet legally required minimum standards. Then, yesterday, the second application for Oliver Bond Street flats was also rejected by a Minister who clearly does not understand the realities in these communities. I want to make it clear the false economy the Government is imposing on these communities. It is saying you cannot reduce the number of units to meet legally required minimum standards, so you have to retrofit the units as they are. However, fewer people will be allowed to live in them. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. In fact, this is going to lead to even greater delay. When Pearse House was knocked back last April, it took until March of this year for a revised proposal to be accepted. From my own conversations with Dublin City Council, it is not clear at all that it will be able to proceed fully with the regeneration of these estates, based on the policy of the Department. What is also without doubt is that the letter from Government to Dublin City Council yesterday was deeply dishonest. It said the reason the Department cannot accept it is that there is a 38% reduction in the number of homes. However, it fails to mention is that in the Dublin City Council plan, which I have here, in order to deal with the fact there would be a reduction of units when you amalgamated two flats into one or three into two, Dublin City Council identified a brand new vacant site opposite Oliver Bond House where it would deliver an additional 43 homes. The scheme has a net gain of 15 homes, and the Minister of State's Government is saying "No" to the people of Oliver Bond House. It is utterly disgraceful. What needs to happen? The Government needs to accept it has got this wrong. It is adding insult to injury to the hardworking, rent-paying tenants in these communities. It needs to reverse its policy decision of opposing amalgamation. It needs to fully fund the adequate regeneration of these estates, and it needs to do it at a more accelerated pace than was originally agreed. What will that take? A dedicated team of staff in Dublin City Council, led by a senior official at assistant director of service grade, and a proper multimillion euro budget provided annually to deal with these issues. I had the very good fortune of being at an event earlier last year in which Gayle Cullen, one of the leading figures in Oliver Bond House, was discussing their experience of regeneration. That was before that community received the devastating news yesterday. What she said at the end of her presentation was that as a community, they were worn out, tired, fed up and living in or beside derelict blocks in awful conditions, and that it was no wonder residents did not back regeneration boards. Speaking to Gayle today, she said the news yesterday was like a death in the community. This is on this Government, and I hope we hear at some point today from Deputy Browne, the Minister who has taken the decision to refuse the funding and who is forcing these communities to continue to live in illegal, substandard accommodation. These conditions have to be reversed, the funding has to be provided and the communities in the Public Gallery today need to have the rights of everybody else to live in safe, secure and adequate homes.

I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, for bringing forward this motion here today. The issue of regeneration of inner city flat complexes is not new. I was actually in Henrietta House today, canvassing on behalf of Janice Boylan for the upcoming by-election, and you could not meet a nicer bunch of residents. One woman I was speaking to asked me to come in here to give the Government hell for the conditions she has been left in. She also asked me to say "Up the flats", so I am saying "Up the flats" on her behalf. That is for you, Dee. Dee, and residents like her, do not deserve to be left behind by this Government. My mother originally lived in Dolphin's Barn and my father lived in Keogh Square in Inchicore. They talk about the living conditions back in the 1960s but things have not improved. Dublin City Council has 100 flat complexes built right across the city, which were built between the 1930s and 1960s. Years of poor maintenance by the council, compounded by under-funding by central government, has created a situation where living conditions in these flat complexes are some of the worst you will see anywhere else, never mind in the city. We have seen countless reports of damp, mould, rodent infestation and chronic overcrowding in the flats. There are not enough sport facilities and community facilities, and this is so unfair for hardworking communities who have to live in these flat complexes, like the people I met in Henrietta House today. Do you know what is even more absurd than having to live in these horrific conditions? It is being asked to pay more to live in them. Councillors from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the Green Party and some Independents inexcusably voted to increase rents on these hard-pressed families. You could not make it up. The message from these councillors is, "We are going to leave you in squalor but we are going to ask you to pay more for the privilege."

Yes.

This is not good enough. This motion we are talking about today calls on Government to fund Dublin City Council's proposed retrofit and regeneration in inner-city flat complexes and to put the views and the needs of the strong, vibrant, long-standing inner city communities at the centre of this policy, like the people we see here in the Public Gallery. They need to be at the heart of this conversation. I genuinely do not think this is too much for people to ask for after decades of neglect. As Deputy Ó Broin said, the European Committee of Social Rights concluded the Irish Government was found to be in breach of Article 16 of the European Social Charter, which protects the rights of the family to social, legal and economic protection, including the provision of adequate family housing. Balgaddy in my area was part of this ruling. Méile an Rí, Tor an Rí, Buirg an Rí and parts of Foxdene Avenue were built almost 20 years ago. Since they were built, there has been constant problems with damp, mould and leaks. I have witnessed water literally running down people's walls. South Dublin County Council has said it is committed to dealing with the housing maintenance issues in Balgaddy, and I acknowledge there has been some progress. However, residents will tell me it is simply not enough. They continue to live in unacceptable conditions, and like the flat complexes in the inner city, residents of Balgaddy are having to pay more to live in these substandard conditions. Sinn Féin Councillor William Carey has done Trojan work in trying to get South Dublin County Council to review the rent increases. However - here we go again with the same names - this was voted down again by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and some Independents. Because of them, the people in Balgaddy will have to pay more rent while having to live in these substandard conditions. A working group was set up in Balgaddy but they are working in a vacuum. Elected representatives are not on this working group nor are residents. I have called for this process to be changed so that people in Balgaddy can have their voices heard. Some of the nicest people, my best friends and the best people in my area come from Balgaddy, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to see them being left behind and having to pay more to live in these horrendous situations.

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 for many years of the unfit conditions, and that includes, for a long time, sewage coming up through the baths in some of the flat complexes. That is how bad it is and how bad has been, yet we have a Government that is willing to put on hold any chance of regeneration in Oliver Bond Street. I have sat on the Dolphin House regeneration board for many years. In that instance, they keep telling lies, coming up with new dates and then turning them upside down, and it does not happen. I have documents and questions here where we have been continuously told that phase 1B of Dolphin House will proceed. It was supposed to be finished by the end of this year; it is now 2029. Let us look at how disgraceful the Government amendment is. Most people do not normally look at it because they know it is a negative. The Government parties are crowing and saying how great they are at delivering social housing regeneration. They picked out Dolphin House and said that they completed it in 2018. They did not complete phase 1 in 2018; they are still working on it. That is how badly the work was done. It is not complete. There is still no movement on phase 1B. We are still waiting on it. Where are phases 2, 3, or 4? Nobody knows. The last we heard was 2035. That is supposed to have started 20 years ago. All of the deadlines set by the council or the Government have never been met because they do not involve them living in it, pure and simple.

Hear, hear.

They would not live in the conditions they are asking residents in my constituency to live in, whether it is Oliver Bond House, Emmet Buildings or Basin Street. There are quite a lot more, including Bernard Curtis House, Dolphin House and Seagull House. In some places, they have pulled them down. People might remember the Emmet estate, or the old St. Michael's Estate. How long has that been waiting for the building? They are only on-site, yet the buildings were pulled down many years ago. That is scandalous. It is strange that the Labour Party even bothered trying to amend our motion because it tried to take out the criticism we had of the party increasing the rent. Shame on it for that.

Hear, hear.

It should acknowledge that it has increased the rent in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It should also acknowledge the increase in rent is for substandard accommodation, pure and simple. These flats are substandard and people know it. They are not fit, in some cases, for human habitation. I have had many cases over the years where residents have come to me about the level of mould and damp, with water running down their walls, not the windows but their walls, and into sockets, making it dangerous to live in. The floor gets saturated and the furniture they have starts to warp and attract mould and damp. The Minister of State would not expect to live in that, yet the State expects people to live in those conditions. It needs to end now. The Government needs to reverse the decision taken on Oliver Bond House and not just that. It needs to accelerate all of the other ones. The communities have spent time and effort and have had consultation after consultation, yet they are getting knocked back. Communities will not continue to engage in those consultations. Is that what the Minister of State wants? Does he want to break the communities and separate them around the city, as has happened in the past, because of the delays? Blocks are detenanted, people are moved out of the community and they are no longer part of it. They are elsewhere. Is that the intention? Then, all of a sudden, the Government has a greenfield site it can build public-private apartments on. That is the wrong approach. These communities are proud. They are the best people in the world, yet we have allowed them to continue to live in unfit accommodation with all of the other pressures these communities are under. We all know about the antisocial and criminal behaviour of people selling drugs in many of these complexes. That needs to end, and it needs to end now.

Hear, hear.

I move: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the Programme for Government commits to continue and accelerate Social Housing regeneration schemes in Dublin, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage continues and commits to support regeneration projects submitted by Dublin City Council (DCC) that do not result in any significant loss of homes; — the Government's objective is to maximise the quality and availability of homes within the established inner-city flat complexes, and to ensure that they are to an acceptable standard; — DCC, through funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, are focused on eradicating any sub-standard conditions that have arisen in aging flat complexes, and this directly addresses the issues raised in the collective complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg; — the Government is fully committed to working with DCC to ensure that all plans to regenerate all such flats, through either deep-retrofit or demolition and re-build, comes to fruition; — the Government has shown its commitment through National Development Plan funding of €20 billion for housing, which includes support for Dublin City regeneration; — a number of funding channels are available to local authorities to support regeneration projects, including the Social Housing Investment Programme, the Affordable Housing Fund, the Capital Advance Leasing Facility, the Cost Rental Equity Loan, and through the Regeneration and Refurbishment Programme; — an unprecedented level of funding is available to local authorities through these schemes, totalling over €3.4 billion in 2026; — local authorities are supported by almost €260 million per annum for the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, through the Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme (€40 million), Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (€140 million), Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People (€28.5 million), and the Regeneration and Refurbishment Programme (€50 million); — the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has recently approved funding of €13.8 million for the deep retrofitting of 78 flats across four blocks at Pearse House; — the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are working with DCC on a proposal for retrofitting the flats at Oliver Bond House, that will not result in a significant loss of housing, but will result in all homes being upgraded to modern standards; — the Minister and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will continue to support such retrofitting of these aging flats to bring them in-line with modern standards, and previous delivery of projects, such as the successful estate retrofit and regeneration or demolition and re-build of Killarney Court, Dolphin House Phase 1 and O'Devaney Gardens, shows that a pathway exists for successful delivery of inner-city regeneration to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, and the Government, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, are fully committed to continue this work; — the Government continues to recognise and support the needs of our strong and vibrant longstanding inner city communities, and recognises the value of their input and valuable lived experience to the planned regeneration of inner-city flat complexes, and this work is continuing throughout DCC, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is happy to assess each proposal that is submitted by DCC; and — the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage works closely with the local government sector to ensure that delivery teams are fully resourced, and continues to do so, and are awaiting a report from a County and City Management Association working group on local authority social and affordable housing resources, and the Chief Executive of DCC has ultimate operational responsibility for the organisational structure of DCC, including additional staff requirements.". I thank the Deputies opposite for tabling the motion, which relates to flat complex retrofit regeneration in Dublin city. While the Government cannot support the motion, I welcome the opportunity to set out its clear and robust position on the issues the motion raises and to table a countermotion. Within the programme for Government 2025, Securing Ireland's Future, a commitment was specifically made to continue to accelerate social housing regeneration schemes across Dublin. In our housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, the Government commits to a social housing regeneration and remedial works programme for ageing flat complexes and estates nationwide. Social housing is absolutely a central priority for this Government, with 72,000 units planned under our housing action plan to the end of 2030. It is a fact that we are delivering the largest investment in social housing in the history of the State. That investment is being directed specially towards delivery of new social homes, the regeneration of older complexes and the refurbishment and maintenance of existing stock. This is a sustained, multi-annual commitment, not a short-term response. Regeneration is actively happening across Dublin city.

That is rubbish.

Large-scale redevelopment projects are progressing, transforming communities-----

Rubbish.

-----and improving living conditions for residents. The Department of housing is fully supportive-----

Has the Minister of State been in any of these complexes?

-----of regeneration proposals submitted by Dublin City Council, which do not result in any significant loss of homes-----

Come and visit them.

-----or when loss of homes cannot be avoided, such decisions are fully justified. Furthermore, over €230 million per annum of Exchequer funding is being provided to local authorities under the planned maintenance and voids programmes, the energy retrofit programme and the regeneration and refurbishment programme, all of which are proving vital in the refurbishment and maintenance of local authority stock nationwide. Contrary to what the Opposition is saying, the Government does not accept there is an issue of underfunding. Local authorities generate significant-----

The Government refused Dublin City Council the funding for Oliver Bond House yesterday.

Deputy Ó Broin.

That is the reality.

A Leas Cheann-Comhairle-----

He is talking down the clock and ignoring the issue.

-----I can respond to the motion that is before us if the Deputies want to give me the respect I gave them in the Chamber.

How about some respect for the residents who are being forced to live in Third World conditions because of the Government's refusal?

If the Deputy wants me to respond to the motion, I will but-----

I would really like the Minister of State to.

-----but if he does not want to hear what I have to say-----

The Minister of State should direct his remarks to the people in the Gallery.

Deal with the issue. Do not talk down the clock.

Deputy Ó Broin.

Am I allowed to respond?

As far as I am concerned.

We would welcome it.

I would appreciate the same respect that I accord the Deputy in this Chamber all of the time.

While sitting on his phone.

Respect is earned.

I do not shout across the Deputy. I listened to him; I would appreciate if he could give me the same respect.

It is the residents we want the Minister of State to listen to, not us.

Go ahead.

Thank you, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by the other side of the House, local authorities do generate significant rental income that should supplement central government funding in the area of maintenance because nobody in this Government wants to see anybody living in substandard accommodation.

Apparently the Government does.

Dublin City Council is working closely with the Department to determine the best solution for each complex, be that demolition and rebuild resulting in mixed-tenure communities or, where appropriate, deep retrofit and remedial works. Mention has been made of local authority staffing and while it should be noted that the operational responsibility for staff lies with Dublin City Council and the chief executive, I assure the Chamber that my Department will consider all staffing requests that can add value to the delivery of housing in the city and across the country. With funding from my Department, Dublin City Council is delivering significant regeneration in Dublin city and we are supporting the council's ambitious pipeline of regeneration projects. Significant work is ongoing within the council's portfolio of regeneration projects as a direct result of extensive supports the Government is providing. Large-scale, mixed-tenure redevelopments are beginning to bear fruit, transforming their respective communities and delivering housing at scale. The Donore project at the former St. Teresa's Gardens flat complex, as well as the Montpelier development at the former O'Devaney Gardens-----

How long did that take?

-----are both currently on-site. Construction has recently begun at An Droichead Órga in Inchicore, at the former St. Michael's estate next to the historic Richmond Barracks.

Twenty years after.

How long did that take?

These three regeneration projects will revitalise their communities and deliver over 2,000 mixed-tenure homes, including cost-rental, affordable purchase and social housing once all phases are completed, with the support of Exchequer funding of over €460 million. This is clear evidence of the significant investment that Government is making-----

The Minister of State needs to come and visit the flats because he is speaking from a position of absolute ignorance.

-----in the regeneration of Dublin city, which is in stark contrast to the motion before us. The Department has funded Dublin City Council to the tune of €120 million for social housing regeneration projects completed in recent years, refurbishing or rebuilding 345 homes, including 72 homes at Dominick Street east-----

How long did Dominick Street take? A generation.

-----100 homes as part of Dolphin House phase 1, and 32 homes for older persons at Glin Court in Coolock. The Department is funding eight projects currently on-site, delivering almost 1,000 homes at a total investment cost of €490 million. Additionally, Dublin City Council has a strong pipeline of regeneration projects that are currently at implementation phase, with building contractors on-site and construction progressing rapidly. These include 163 homes at Dorset Street, St. Mary's, Dublin 1, 102 homes at St. Anne's Court, Dublin 5 and 46 homes at Constitution Hill, phase 1, Dublin 7. The Department has also provided funding approval for regeneration projects in Dublin city, where DCC is working on the design, including Pearse House, Dublin 2, Dolphin House 1B, School Street, Dublin 8, Constitution Hill phase 2, Dublin 7, as well as Glover's Court, Dublin 2. In addition, the Government is supporting the Land Development Agency in its objective to deliver social and affordable homes at scale, and it is partnering with Dublin City Council to deliver significant schemes at Donore Avenue at the former St. Theresa's Gardens flat complex, Bluebell Waterways, Dublin 12 and Cherry Orchard. The LDA has also engaged with Dublin City Council in planning for significant social and cost rental delivery at Dolphin House flat complex. In relation to Pearse House and the Oliver Bond Street flat complexes, this Government recognises the need and potential difficulties of regeneration in fully tenanted, ageing buildings. As I have said, we do not want to see anybody living in substandard accommodation.

The Government parties do. They are in the Gallery here. This is deeply frustrating. This is doolally stuff, with no bearing on how decent people are currently living, on the Minister of State's watch.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I always address through the Chair.

No, the Minister of State do not.

He is very good.

The best boy in the class.

I would appreciate some extra time because I might not get finished as a result of the interruptions, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

The Minister of State might actually address the question in front of us.

To that end, and recognising the efforts of Dublin City Council to create an agreeable and sustainable plan, funding of €13 million for the retrofit and deep refurbishment of four blocks at Pearse House has recently been approved by my Department. This follows an initial rejection of an amalgamation proposal from DCC, which would have resulted in the loss of 43% of existing homes at a very high cost. The Department is currently working with the Council to find an equally appropriate solution for the Oliver Bond House flat complex. This remains a priority regeneration project for Dublin City Council and for the Department. A recent funding submission received from the council for blocks L, M and N included a reduction of existing homes from 74 to 46, a 38% decrease in existing homes. That loss of 28 homes was not acceptable, given the current shortage of homes. A more appropriate response to this issue has been suggested by my Department, whereby flats that are currently configured as two-bedroom flats, with floor spaces of 48 sq. m should be converted into one-bedroom, two-person flats that would satisfy the minimum floor area standards for apartments. Coupled with this, Dublin City Council is proposing to develop an adjacent site at Bridgefoot Street in which larger families from the Oliver Bond Street complex could be accommodated, thus maintaining an appropriate mix of household types and sizes within the complex. The clear focus of Government is on driving delivery and increasing the number of homes available for use by all individuals and families. Additional supply is the only long-term sustainable solution to our current housing challenges.

The Minister of State is joking.

The Department is acutely aware that regeneration programmes cannot succeed without the input from local communities. That is why Dublin City Council continues to seek input from existing communities in flat complexes at each stage of the regeneration process.

Which the Government then ignores. The Government then ignores and throws it in the bin.

Their input is valued and all projects are advanced with the objective of improving the living conditions of these long-term established communities.

That is them. That is a good one.

I have a couple more concluding comments and would appreciate some latitude, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, because I was interrupted several times. We are aware of the collective complaint that was made to the European Committee of Social Rights in Strasbourg in 2017. It is for that very reason that Dublin City Council has been working on plans to regenerate all such flats through either deep retrofit or demolition and rebuild. The unparalleled funding available to local authorities through delivering homes and building communities will continue to be a key focus of this Government because both the Minister and I want to ensure that these flat complexes and other regeneration projects across the country are delivered.

Oh, my God.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Minister of State is way over and he has not answered anything.

That is a disgraceful response. Have he visited them?

This is Orwellian.

The Minister of State is welcome to come to my constituency and visit to see how people are living.

The Labour Party amendment cannot be moved until the Minister of State's amendment has been disposed of. We will continue with Sinn Féin.

The absolute neck of the Minister of State reading out that diatribe. He should have addressed his remarks to the people in the Gallery but he would be ashamed. He could not even look them in the face. My God, this makes me so angry. He is dragging people back to tenements. My mam and dad were born in tenement housing in the city centre in Dublin and they left, they moved to the suburbs so that they could make a better life for themselves and the slums were cleared. That is not good enough for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. They want to bring the slums back to Dublin city. Shame on the Minister of State, shame on him. Nothing that he read out in his script will give comfort to any person up in that Gallery that he is listening, that he understands, that he gives - I am not even going to say it because I am better than that. I want to talk very briefly about a lady who commented on a Dublin Live article on the conditions that she is living in. She is five months pregnant. Her home is overcrowded and no matter what she does, she cannot win the fight with the mould. She cannot buy anything for her baby because she knows that by the time the child is born, the stuff is going to be covered in mould. Imagine that when you are planning to bring a lovely newborn baby back to your place. Imagine that you cannot buy anything, not a Babygro, not a Moses basket, nothing for the child, because you know by the child comes home, by the time you bring your little baby home to your overcrowded, draughty, damp flat, the stuff is going to be covered in mould. She lies in bed every night, five months pregnant, terrified because of what she is breathing in, and worries that it is going to harm her and her baby. Imagine how she feels when the Lord Mayor of Dublin votes to jack up her rent five minutes before he hops on a plane to head off to California. She is trying to wipe the mould off the walls and she is listening to him tell her she has to pay more rent, that she cannot move, she must endure those conditions, and that this is the place she is going to have to bring her baby home to. Imagine listening to that, five minutes before he hopped on a plane and headed off on a first-class flight to California. The people in the flats are house-proud. If the Minister of State visited the flats, he would see that. He has been invited by Deputy McDonald to go to her constituency and see the conditions. He is their landlord. There are plenty of private landlords sitting on the Government benches but he is their landlord. If this was private renting, the landlord would not get away with it. It is getting away with it because it is the Government and it should be ashamed of itself.

Céad míle fáilte to all the residents up there. I want to give a shout out to the flat complexes of Meath Place, Dolphin House, Tyrone Place, Braithewaite Street and Seagull House in my constituency alone. Unfortunately the residents of Oliver Bond House, who planned to attend, cannot be here, as has been mentioned. These residents are devastated by dealing with yet more Government ineptitude but they are ready for the fight ahead. All these guys in the Gallery have fought all their lives and they are not going to give up now. Some 120 years ago, Dublin had the worst slums in Europe in which 30% of the city's population resided. Slums were described as unfit for human habitation. These conditions bred illness and premature death. It was called the consumption at the time. Even the Brits were forced to acknowledge this was unacceptable and undertook the construction of estates for public health and to clear some of the slums. In 1917, Sinn Féin alderman Thomas Kelly chaired the Dublin Corporation housing committee and kicked against funding delays, a mirror image of the failings of today's Government and the Minister. Residents of Dolphin House had to bring their case to Europe due to sewage, damp, rodent infestations and mould. There has been no meaningful maintenance of inner city flat complexes. DCC has been bled dry of expertise and decimated due to the Government decisions and funding cuts over the past 20 years. The Minister of State should know this well. He has continued these practices and policies that perpetrate Dickensian conditions. The damaging criminality, antisocial behaviour and drug dealing are picking off our youth in these complexes. Some of the well-heeled are aghast that these young people seemingly do not respect their areas but why should they when the Government does not lead by example? The social cost to communities the Government is tearing asunder and neglecting is immeasurable. The Government's countermotion cites the successful rebuild of phase 1 of Dolphin House. What a joke - more jokes than a cracker factory. Entire rows need to be redone. If the Government considers this a success I would hate to its failures. The Labour Party's amendment decries the recent rent increases in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, yet Labour Party councillors voted in favour of these hikes along with the Green Party. Apparently the Labour Party not only has buyer's remorse; it is also having by-election remorse. The Minister of State should be ashamed of himself - absolutely morto for you - at the irreparable damage he is wreaking upon the working classes of our city and the inner city that is their place and their home. Respect is a two-way street. Please stand up and respect these guys in the Gallery.

Dublin's inner city like other areas of the city, including my constituency, Dublin North West, has long faced challenges related to social inclusion, economic disparity and the consequences of many years of ageing infrastructure and buildings coinciding with a lack of proper maintenance of such structures or adequate financial investment in the areas. In the past there were efforts to revitalise local communities, improve the quality of life of residents and stimulate economic development. The Ballymun regeneration project is one such effort as is the more recent project in O'Devaney Gardens and the redevelopment of St. Mary's Mansions in the north inner city. Regeneration is not only about renovating or building new houses or apartments; it is also about providing proper community facilities and services. It is important that such redevelopments and regeneration projects ensure community-led decision-making by actively involving local residents and other stakeholders in the planning and decision-making process. A recent report from Eurostat shows Ireland has the highest household electricity prices in the European Union. DCC currently maintains an ageing housing stock with over 50% of its properties built between 1930 and 1977. A big problem with the council's retrofitting works programme is that is stops in October and does not resume until April, which leaves a huge gap in knowing what works are required for the following year and contractors left without confirmation of future contracts. There is also an inefficiency in how it works. Where a terrace of houses gets wraparounds, a single house in the middle does not because it is privately owned. Dublin City Council's new differential rent scheme is supposed to augment its maintenance budget and has increased rents for almost all of the city's 68,000 council tenants. It disproportionately impacts social housing tenants already struggling with the cost of living and has placed the burden of funding DCC's maintenance programme on the shoulders of its most vulnerable tenants. Additionally, Dublin City Council manages a significant number of vacant social housing units or voids awaiting refitting or refurbishment. Government assistance is inadequate for such works as the cost of refitting a unit is approximately €40,000 but the Government provides around €10,000 for each unit averaging out from its contribution. DCC has to make up the shortfall. It is outrageous that so many of these regeneration schemes face delays and roadblocks because the Government is blocking the funding necessary for projects such Pearse House regeneration and the Moore Street redevelopment. Today we heard the regeneration of Dublin's Oliver Bond Street complex is to be scrapped. These regeneration projects need to be fully funded and any roadblocks to progress lifted. The neglect of our communities needs to end.

I apologise that I could not be here earlier. We were dealing with the ambulance strike due to take place next Tuesday so I missed the earlier contributions. I do not know who wrote the Government's countermotion this morning but the people sitting around the Cabinet table who signed off on it this afternoon and the person who wrote this have their heads in the clouds. Everything in the Government's countermotion suggest an aloof and, worse, an indifference or callousness towards the appalling conditions in which far too many council tenants in this city find themselves living. Of course, there has been progress - none of us is denying that - particularly in the north-west inner city in recent years in Constitution Hill, Dorset Street, and O'Devaney Gardens. That is all welcome but the context is that there are 211 flat complexes across the Dublin City Council area and just 12 are either undergoing major regeneration or subject to some sort of plan. There is a hell of a lot to be done. I am in no way hearing from Government that it gets the depth of the problem with the flat complexes in our capital city or has any idea of the impact of its short-sightedness, particularly when we see the stalemate between it and DCC on Oliver Bond Street flats. The news that emerged today regarding those flats is disgraceful. We have listened for many weeks to the Taoiseach talking about how local authorities are well-resourced, lots of money going into the housing budget for local authorities and money having to be carefully spent. Hundreds of thousands of euro have been spent trying to get the plans for the Oliver Bond Street complex to where they are, yet the Department has been blindsided by the desire for volume, which we all share, but cannot see the short-term and long-term costs to families continuing to live in squalor in the flats. It is condemning those people to all the social and health costs that with it. We know from research conducted by the Robert Emmet Community Development Project and Trinity College that children in the Oliver Bond Street flats are 2.4 times more likely to have asthma relative to the general population. There is still not a huge volume of evidence relating to the causation but the correlation is enormous. We have to draw an inference that suggests people's lives and health are badly affected from the people who come to my clinics, in the flats I step into, the babies on inhalers before the age of 18 months, and the children missing school days because of chest and throat infections due to the mould on their walls and around their windows, mildew and fungus growing from their ceilings. Year after year people paint their walls. Who paints their walls every year? The people in the flat complexes in my constituency in Dublin Central do. It is unacceptable and outrageous. They are trying to cover up a problem that will not go away because of construction defects, yet the Government continues to say plenty of money is going into housing. It is not going into flat maintenance or regeneration and it must. The reality is hundreds of flat complexes are old and in need of regeneration but there are also new complexes like Blackhall Place, which is only 30 years old and won awards at the time. It was poorly built and now residents have to deal with issues with drinking water and drainage. I spoke to a lady last Saturday on Poplar Row whose insulation is soaking. That is a result of Dublin City Council dropping the ball and the Government. We talk about fire safety defects and the enormous bill for private apartment complexes but there is also a massive issue with the Government dropping the ball on building standards in flat complexes in this city and beyond. A big concern I have in all of this is that there have been so many broken promises to residents in flat complexes over the years from successive Ministers and public representatives in Dublin Central. We were told Croke Villas was due to start in 2019. It is still to happen. Matt Talbot Court is still standing there. It was supposed to be finished in 2022. Gardiner Street flats and Dunne Street flats were supposed to start in 2021. There is still no progress. I know all too often that Dublin City Council and the Government will point to the pandemic. We saw the Mater getting its act together during the pandemic and building much-needed hospital bed space, but when it comes to flat complexes we have seen no progress. It is important to say that the corrosive impact of the broken promises is not just for the residents but is right across the communities. We are seeing that manifest with the local election results in 2024 and what may happen in our constituency over the coming weeks. This Government has to wake up to the reality that there is a serious crisis when people are living in those sorts of degrading conditions. Deputy Devine mentioned the rent increases. I tell the Minister of State clearly that I am not happy about the rent increases. It is crap that anybody has to pay a rent increase in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Dublin City Council executives dropped the ball by not having a rate review for over 30 years, but the Government has also starved Dublin City Council of funding for refurbishment and regeneration. The reality is that the €30 million that is going to be raised by the rent increases is supposed to go into maintenance. We will be doing our damnedest to make sure it does, but it is a drop in the ocean in terms of what is needed. There needs to be a honest conversation about the expectations for all the people I am delighted to see in the Gallery today and what they can expect over the coming years. Let us look at the figures. To try to do decent maintenance across four complexes will cost approximately €70 million. To fully regenerate major complexes will cost hundreds of millions of euro. We have to hear from the Government whether it is willing to stump up those hundreds of millions of euro to fully regenerate those flat complexes in coming years or whether it will merely involve replacement of windows, doors and ventilation, which is important, but does not go far enough in making the lives of people better. It is not all about money. It is about capacity and resources. In local authorities across this country, we have seen a hollowing-out of staffing over many years. Some local authorities have tried to start apprenticeship programmes in their maintenance departments, but we have far too few. If we are to seriously have a planned maintenance programme across all local authorities we need to see leadership from the Government on this. We need to see direction from the Government to make sure it is direct employment within local authorities so the day-to-day maintenance can be dealt with and the real money can go into the issues of cold walls that need the insulation and broken windows. Far too much of the money at the moment is going into day-to-day stuff. None of it, or far too little, is going into proper maintenance and upkeep of flat complexes that are many years old. For many years there have been residents and residents’ groups fighting tooth and nail on this. I know in my constituency ICON has been to the fore in leading the charge to bring people together in recent years. I pay particular tribute to Belinda Nugent and others working there and looking at this as a systemic issue rather than just going back and forth between maintenance staff in Dublin City Council and individual tenants. The reality is that we have a systemic crisis. There are far too many children growing up in degrading conditions in our flat complexes. At the very least, for the dignity of families in this country we need to see a change in tone and attitude to funding local authorities from this Government.

Today's motion from Sinn Féin is welcome and we support it. It is timely given what has come out today about the Oliver Bond Street flats, which is absolutely disgraceful. I have been in Oliver Bond Street and have worked with colleagues who have done research and community work in those flats. I worked for many years as a community worker in the Dolphin House flats dealing with issues of mould and damp. One of the big motivations for me to get involved in politics was that people should have the basic necessity of a home, a place where they can rest their head and raise their families, and that does not make them sick and ill. We know in flat complexes across this city and in social housing across this country there are tenants living in homes making them and their children sick. It is wrong. It is a breach of this State's obligations to ensure that not just all housing but social housing in particular, for which the Minister is responsible and landlord of, is not damaging people's health. It is, and we have known about it for years. Ultimately it comes back to the failure to treat housing as a human right, particularly for renters. They have a right to live in housing of a decent standard, whether that is social housing or private rental housing. Many people who own their homes are living in mould and damp as well. In Ballymun, in my constituency, I have dealt with many people living with similar situations of mould and damp. I have been dealing with one mother in particular. I visited her home two months ago and saw the mould in the child's bedroom. It is absolutely unacceptable that babies are born into, and children growing up in homes with mould in the walls. I put my finger on the windowsill, and it went into it because of the dampness. The Minister of State knows what that does to a child with impacts on asthma and even development. It is unacceptable and this State cannot accept that children and families are left growing up in substandard social housing. On top of that, they are being asked and forced to pay even higher rent. It is absolutely disgraceful and unfair that they are living in homes that are uninhabitable and being asked and forced to pay higher rents for that. There are alternative ways to raise funding. Councils need to be funded properly, but ultimately the Government has to take responsibility. We are jeopardising the lives of our children and families growing up. People in social housing have an absolute right to a decent standard of home, just like anybody else. This and previous Governments have failed social housing tenants in this country, and it is not okay. My colleagues will be talking about this, particularly in relation to Oliver Bond Street and what is happening there, but also about inner-city flat complexes that have been left derelict. I was involved in a research project recently specifically about Oliver Bond Street and the concept of care. The question that was put over and over again was whether the Irish State cares about people living in social housing. The only conclusion I can draw, and they can draw, is that right now it does not care. However, it should, and it needs to, and we will fight and push until it does and until people have decent homes in this country.

I listened to the Minister of State's contribution earlier. My only hope is that he did not write it himself because I cannot describe it as anything other than obnoxious. It was a gaslighting of communities, some of which I am sure are in the Gallery this evening and are living in conditions nothing short of inhumane. The response from Government was "carry on" because things are good and it will get there in due course. However, due course has health implications for the people living in those flat complexes. There are respiratory issues and mould on the walls. When I canvas any of the inner-city flat complexes I will inevitably be brought in by a person to see the mould on the walls, to see hinges on doors that do not actually close, and to see windows only barely contained within the structure. Only 17% of flat complexes in this city have experienced any form of upgrade. The people living in them have been given a double insult. I will get to the insult in a second, but in addition to what this motion is asking for, all anybody in the flat complexes or those who have the pleasure of representing them are asking for is that this Government lives up to its own commitments. In October 2024, to great fanfare, Simon Harris and lots of other Ministers stood in the GPO and announced a capital-only plan called the Big Move 2. It committed to a "total regeneration of all existing social housing in the city centre [and this is the real kicker] within three to five years". I do not believe a single flat complex has been renovated in that time, but the Minister of State's speech tells us the State will get to it in due course. The Government is going against its own commitments made in the GPO under the heading "Ten Big Moves". I can imagine a person in one of the flat complexes locally, like Greek Street, Henrietta Street, Ballybough House or Dunne Street would have looked at that and said it was great and that maybe within in three to five years they would have habitable conditions in which they could raise their children. What did they get within 12 months of the Government's Big Move? They got rent increases. I cannot imagine anything more cruel than a report commissioned by the State that commits to addressing the absence of any sort of humane conditions in flat complexes and rather than the State doing the job it committed to do, which was to allocate the funding promised, it turned around and raised the rents of people living in conditions not one of us in this Chamber would live in now. I grew up in Mountain View Court. I spent the first seven years of my life there. I will not romanticise it as there absolutely were issues, but I still see people on the street who say they remember me from the flats. A sense of solidarity, commitment and community exists there, but it exists in the absence of State intervention and of a State willing to say that, as these people's landlord - the overarching truth is that this State is quite literally the landlord - it is going to allow people to live in conditions that are nothing short of the tenement conditions of old. Within these complexes you will find people who keep their flats immaculately. They clean their flats every single day. I am sorry to the Minister of State, but I am talking to him. I am talking to him through the Chair, admittedly, but I would appreciate it if he-----

I am listening to the Deputy.

-----listened to me about the cry I am getting from flat complexes the length and breadth of this city, which is that the State should just do its job. With Dublin City Council or any other local authority, it is the State that is the overarching landlord of conditions that were found by European courts to be inhumane. The Minister of State cannot tell me we are a rich country when we are a slum landlord. The calls in this motion are minuscule but the demand from the people living in these flat complexes the length and breadth of the city, who we meet every single day, who are hurting and who have that hurt compounded by increased rents, is simply for the State to do its job, live up to its commitment and stop asking people to live in conditions none of us in this Chamber would live in.

The Minister of State is having a bad time today because what is happening with the Oliver Bond Street complex is an absolute disgrace. I have the letter that was sent by the senior Minister, who really should be here to answer the questions. Well done to Sinn Féin for bringing this forward. Dublin South-Central, which I represent, has a number of regeneration projects that have been going on for what seems like decades. It is quite outstanding that the State could build homes designed by Herbert Simms and all these amazing places and then let them rot, let the people inside them also rot, promise the people it will get the regeneration done and then not do that. The State wasted people's time on the Oliver Bond forum for years. It wasted their valuable time sitting and talking about things only to say, at the last minute and with the stroke of a pen, that the answer is "No"; the computer says "No". The Taoiseach visited Oliver Bond Street six years ago and promised the sun, moon and stars. He promised that regeneration would be done, but there is not a dicky-bird. Nothing has happened in six years. Again, the State was making people spend their valuable time coming up with ideas and working with the council - giving them the runaround - and then saying "No", with the excuse that regeneration would reduce the number of units. If the Minister of State had ever visited the place he would know it is not fit to live in. There is mould and damp. They are tiny flats. They do not reach any standards. It is a computer says "No" situation. The utter disrespect this Government has for the people in Dublin South-Central is seen today. I do not like calling people out but the TD for that area who is from the Government and the Senator for that area who is from the Government should not knock on doors and promise people the sun, moon and stars and then not deliver on it. It is unfair and inhumane how people are living down there. Not one person would accept it for themselves and it should not be acceptable for anyone who is paying rent in social housing in Ireland.

The living conditions faced by Dubliners in social housing flats built between the 1930s and 1960s are frankly unconscionable. I have heard stories from people who are desperate, who are enraged and who, increasingly, are resigned to the failure of this State to uphold their human rights. I get countless pleas in my constituency of Dublin Bay South from people living in flats with mouldy walls, rotting woodwork and rat infestations in places like Pearse House and Markievicz House. The endless tick-tacking between central government and Dublin City Council on regeneration plans has left these residents exhausted and hopeless. As one resident put it to me, residents have gone through hell over the last five years with the planned and cancelled regeneration of Pearse House. Another told me of her deteriorating mental health and said residents had suffered in silence for too long and the thought the regeneration may be cancelled has left them hopeless. She said they were simply asking for a chance to live in peace and dignity. Residents of Pearse House and Markievicz House have been left in limbo by a housing Minister who seems more concerned with optics than solutions. The Department refused the comprehensive regeneration plans put forward by Dublin City Council last year on the basis there would be a reduction in the overall number of units. However, it would stand to reason that the severe overcrowding issues simply cannot be solved without some reduction. Imagine if the same had been said about the tenements. The solution for Pearse House that has been approved is a reduced refurbishment project that will not solve overcrowding and has only had its first phase approved. Is the progress the Minister and Minister of State are making on supply of new housing so limited that the loss of a few units in Pearse House would make a substantial impact on the Department's performance? Must the residents of Pearse House and Markievicz House continue to live among rats in mouldy, overcrowded flats in order to appease ministerial vanity? The choice is the Minister's.

I have had the pleasure over the last number of months of visiting a lot of flats in the north inner city. This is in the context of both the by-election and the campaign against the rent increases, which is a Dublin-wide campaign even though we are at different phases. It is interesting to hear the TDs from the constituency talk because what strikes you is the very deep sense of community due to people living so close together. It is a very strong sense of community and solidarity. These are really great people. That is on the one hand, but what also strikes you is the pretty horrific conditions in which people have to live in 2026. There is mould everywhere. There are stories of people repainting their flats over and over. There are rats. Obviously there is overcrowding, which is chronic across the city. It is utterly unacceptable. What we have heard about the Oliver Bond Street complex is outrageous. People have had their time wasted, have been led up the garden path and then have been left waiting again in horrific conditions because of what is effectively a tick-box approach to resolving the housing crisis, as opposed to dealing with the situations people are facing. It is outrageous that people who are living in such poor conditions have been asked, forced or compelled to pay even more in rent. It is outrageous that the argument for them to pay more in rent to Dublin City Council – an average increase of 30% - is wrapped up in the language of the council wanting to be a good landlord. It wants to be a good landlord so it has left people living in crap for years and years or even decades, and now it wants them to pay more for the privilege of it. It is outrageous. The main responsibility for that goes to central government for not properly funding our councils, but there is a lesson here for Labour and the Greens in particular because it was a horrendous mistake to vote to increase these people's rents.

Hear, hear.

The mistake can be righted at the next budget. There is a big campaign to ask people to reverse it. Ultimately, the vote was lost by one vote. There was an amendment to say we should not be increasing people's rents and should instead be hitting the big companies by introducing what is effectively a differential rates scheme. It can be reversed for next year. We need commitments from Labour and the Greens to do that, as opposed to charging people more. I wish to speak for a moment about South Dublin County Council. In my constituency we do not have that many social housing flats. Obviously, we have lots of social houses and the same sorts of issues apply. The biggest issue is people waiting for years and years for windows and doors that are necessary. There are gale-force winds passing through their houses. The idea of having insulation or whatever in that context is obviously a complete joke. Just as in Dublin city, Fingal and Galway, the management in South Dublin County Council, with the presumed agreement of the ruling group, is planning to go for big rent increases. The council has produced a PowerPoint presentation to outline its case. Effectively, it is trying to suggest that just as in Dublin city, the council takes in less in rent than it spends in maintenance. It is not true. When you go through the figures, you see that it is not true whatsoever. The council is adding in all sorts of extra expenses - I will go into some of it for a second - to try to create that impression. Dublin City Council has said that it is not getting enough in rents so it has to increase them, and then it will improve maintenance. South Dublin County Council is raising a fair bit more in rents than it is actually spending in maintenance. It has no excuse for not providing it. I will give one example; the council includes in its expenditure the money that comes from central government for retrofitting, which is about €7 million a year. The council is including that in its own expenditure to try to pretend it is making less. The truth is that it is taking a lot more in rent than in maintenance. It does not need to increase the rents; there is no argument for it whatsoever.

Decent housing is enshrined as a human right in Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It should also be enshrined in Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Irish Constitution. A referendum to that effect should be called immediately. The policy of successive Governments has been and continues to be an abysmal failure. Target after target has been missed. There are well over 17,000 families who are now homeless, including well over 5,500 children. Thousands more are living in substandard council houses and flats all over the country. Housing rents, including council rents, have skyrocketed and are being further substantially increased by the new rents regime introduced by the Minister. Billions of euro every year are being paid to landlords in respect of HAP payments. Over 140,000 households are on council waiting lists and thousands more are being locked out of the housing market because they are earning slightly over the council housing income limit but not enough to secure a mortgage while they cannot save for a deposit. This housing emergency has broken the social contract between the State and its citizens. Successive Governments have paid lip service to this situation by calling it a priority, a crisis and even an emergency while failing to take any housing emergency action. To deal with this housing emergency, the Government must enact a housing emergency measure in the public interest law. Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Irish Constitution, provides for such an emergency action in Article 43.2.2°. The new law must provide for a massive construction programme for social and affordable houses on public land by local authorities. Local authorities must be funded to carry out this programme, which includes building houses as well as retrofitting and upgrading existing houses. Tipperary County Council must be commended on delivering 180 social houses in 2024. Despite this, and due to the failure to provide capital funding to the council, the council's waiting list is, at best, static with 3,400 on the list. This waiting list significantly underestimates the real demand because large numbers of households are being excluded from the waiting list on income grounds. I will give an example. An applicant in receipt of one-parent family payment who is working part time and in receipt of the working family payment is deemed to be over the limit. These applicants are condemned to long-term renting at exorbitant levels, with no hope of a council house or a mortgage. The income limits for housing applicants for local authorities must be increased by at least €10,000. To address the country's dependence on fossil fuels, the retrofitting of council houses must be hugely increased. The illegal US-Israeli war on Iran shows how important this is. Tipperary County Council has a social housing stock of 5,210 units, but works on just 71 of those houses were completed under the energy retrofit programme in 2024. This is a snail's pace and is totally unacceptable but it is the best that could be done with the funds available to the council. The Government needs to significantly increase funding to local authorities on this scheme, with a target of completing all council houses in a four- to five-year period.

I fully support the proposals being put forward to improve accommodation for the people living in the flat complexes in Dublin city. I have been to many of them over the years and I have seen at first hand the difficult conditions that people are living in. I will turn to private rental accommodation and apartments. In County Laois, there are 5,600 households who are living in private rented accommodation. A lot of them are flats and apartments. Some of the older private rented stock is in very bad condition. Tenants complain to me about dampness, mould, poor ventilation and houses that are impossible to heat. This creates health issues. It is not just a housing issue; it creates a health issue as well. Tenants in private rented accommodation are often reluctant to complain because it is followed up by an inspection from the council which can lead to a notice to quit. I have seen examples of where a notice to quit follows the inspection. Of the 5,600 private rented homes, 227 were inspected last year by the Laois County Council inspector and of those 227 - this is a telling figure - 176 received an improvement notice. That means 80% of the landlords of those properties got a notice to improve them. That high percentage shows that some are in a very bad condition. Tenants can often get a notice to quit. After a period of time, the flat or house is re-let. Much of the private rental stock has a very poor energy rating and this well known. Every TD here knows this. There is very poor insulation and a very poor energy rating. In turn, they have sky-high energy costs because they are heated by very expensive electricity meters. We know today that we have the highest electricity costs in the European Union. We must change this. On top of all of that, rents in County Laois continue to skyrocket. A two-bedroom flat now makes €1,600 plus per month. There are examples of three-bedroom houses for rent for in excess of €2,000 per month. In fact, one house was advertised for €3,000 per month. People on low and middle incomes who are living in private rented accommodation are those hardest hit because they are not on the fuel allowance, they do not have any other supports and they are paying for a whole range of other things as well, such as health costs, and are commuting - in some cases as far as Dublin city - to work every day. They are really being caught. They are paying high rents, ever-increasing high energy costs and a high cost for everything else. On the Laois County Council part of it, a lot of the housing stock is fairly new and built in recent years. That is in fairly good condition and a lot of it has a reasonably good energy rating but there is a lot of stock that has to be improved as well. There are over 2,400 council dwellings in the county. At the moment, 250 properties from the older stock are getting a deep retrofit. Some others have had more minor energy upgrades. That work has been successful but it needs more money because the midlands just transition fund, which was mainly funding it, is running out. It has now run out so Government funding is needed to keep it going. I urge the Government to keep the funding going for the remaining Laois County Council houses, particularly the older ones that need further upgrading. I also urge the Government to ensure enforcement standards are improved for private rented accommodation and for council housing as well, including what we spoke about earlier. We need to put the onus on landlords to improve the energy rating of the rental stock. We cannot have tenants paying the highest rents in the worst accommodation with the most expensive electricity.

I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State for further and higher education on the Government side. The Minister of State is a very fine Minister of State but I find it rather upsetting that we do not have the senior Minister in the House.

Hear, hear.

This is a very serious debate and some very serious questions need to be answered on what we are discussing here. I commend my colleagues in Sinn Féin on bringing this to the House and I welcome those people to the Visitors Gallery. I say to tenants in Dublin that they are not alone in what is happening in their properties. We have exactly the same thing in Cork city and county. I received a copy of an email from Councillor Noel O'Flynn, a former Member of this House and member of Independent Ireland. He informed me that he received an email from one of the senior engineers in Cork telling him that a B2 energy rating by the time the flats will be completed in Mary Aikenhead Place will be 2050. Most of those people will have reached their eternal reward. Those flats were built in 1959. It was the first set of flats and has not been retrofitted. Other flats around them have been retrofitted but they have not. We can go to Blackpool and to Farrancleary Place. Those flats were built in the 1960s. They have no fire escape, despite the issue being brought up in this House on a regular basis. The set of steps there is bad anyway but if there is a fire in those flats, we are going to lose over 100 people because there is no fire escape. That has been flagged with Cork City Council on a regular basis and Cork City Council has applied for funding and has requested Government funding. It is all very well for junior Ministers to come in here and to say that the duty of care is a matter for the local authority. That is no good unless the Government is funding it. That is no good unless the Government is handing down the money and making it available. We can walk down into Blackpool and into Madden's Buildings, which were built in 1868. We can go up the hill and into Roche's Buildings, which are 18th century buildings. We can visit Kelleher's Buildings in Dillon's Cross or Ryan's Buildings in Ballymacthomas. Those buildings have been there since the 18th century and there has not been a tack of retrofitting. The only retrofit that happened was that the outside toilets were brought in in 1991 and bathrooms were fitted, thanks to Noel O'Flynn. In Roche's Buildings at the moment, tenants have water streaming down through Velux windows. Tenants have water streaming down the walls because soffits have not been replaced and building work has not been done. No retrofit has been carried out despite continuous calls from the local authority requesting money to do that. We can go to the south side. I have an email from Councillor Albert Deasy, a very fine independent councillor in Cork city. He is a great man. He has been working in the Taoiseach's constituency. He is a member of the council in the Taoiseach's constituency. You would think that the Taoiseach might have a small bit of influence over what goes on in his constituency. The Togher flats now have a situation of chronic dampness, black mould and rodent infestation. I must also mention that there is a rodent infestation in Mary Aikenhead Place. There are serious structural defects there. A series of problems is continuously happening and yet we are being told that the Government is providing money for retrofitting. Why are these flats not fixed? Why are the people in the Gallery here? Why are we not fixing that and addressing those issues? They have been around since 1860 and 1959. It seems absolutely absurd. I meet constituents every day of the week. I have constituents with black mould in their properties. We all have photographs. It is okay if the Minister of State wants to go. We have so many people who have sent photos that are now on our phones. Every TD has photos of black mould on walls or water coming down in flats and council houses. We continuously come across such situations and it is not acceptable. Nobody should have to live like that.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this important motion. There are families from flats in Dublin in the audience today. Good, decent people are being left to live in damp, mouldy, unsafe homes. That is simply unacceptable. I have seen it in towns and villages in west Cork, where people have been waiting years for repairs that never come. They are paying high rents while living in conditions that no one here would be expected to tolerate. The Government talks about housing numbers but a substandard home is not a housing solution. We must fix the homes we already have and make them warm, dry and safe. When regeneration is promised, we must be honest. If we knock down homes, where are the replacements? Communities deserve straight answers. People are tired of plans, consultation and glossy announcements. They want delivery, accountability and funding that is ring-fenced, time-bound and actually spent on the ground. This is not just a Dublin problem. It is a very serious problem in Dublin and I fully respect those who are here today to highlight their crisis, as such. However, it is happening across rural Ireland, too. The message from those communities is clear: treat tenants with dignity, stop the waste and delays, and make sure no regeneration project reduces the number of homes available. We support action, and want to see real delivery, real value for money and real homes in which people can actually live. We must look at different ways. The Government has, in fairness, been looking at some ways, including extensions at the back of houses. I fully agree with that and think it is wrong for anyone to criticise it. We must look at every opportunity out there. I would like the Government to consider affordable sites and the value to communities. People bought sites with State subsidies and homes were built for local people who took their children to the local school and invested in the local community. They were a huge benefit long ago but are not there today. I would like the Government to look at that again. Affordable sites are a considerable issue in rural communities. People cannot afford to buy sites or get a mortgage or whatever. I have been fighting for a long time about housing and have talked about planning. It is a serious issue. I am a big believer in the county development plan but county development plans are built not to engage. That is a serious mistake. It tells people how to get housing and planning for the next number of years but if you are not allowed to participate in it or it is poorly advertised or poorly discussed with people, they do not get that chance. People have come to me often recently. They have ruins and are trying to rebuild them. There is an amount of hassle involved. It costs thousands and thousands of euro for this report and that report. It is turning people away from just doing up a ruin that is falling down anyway. I cannot understand for the life of me where the Government is going. We need to look at vacant houses. The Government is attacking the short-term lets sector. I plead with the Minister not to allow that to continue. In rural communities, the Government has said it is dealing with-----

I do not mean to be rude but-----

I thank the Deputy. I did not interrupt when she was speaking.

-----this is about inner-city flats.

Hang on a minute, we are talking about them too. There is plenty of time to let the Deputy talk when she wants to. The whole problem of the short-term lets is a serious issue for our communities. At the same time, you see vacant council houses and HSE houses all over the place. There is plenty of housing. The Government is going after a sector it should not be going after.

I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to clarify the situation in relation to Oliver Bond flats and regeneration right across the country. I highlight that in 2026 alone, there will be just over €9 billion in capital invested in housing in this country as a result of Government policies. Some €50 million per year is set aside specifically for regeneration projects that require refurbishment and remediation works. That is only one part of the funding that there is for regeneration in this country. Funding for projects is at record levels that have never been seen previously in the history of the State. That must be acknowledged. The commitment is further evidenced in the Dublin city task force and implementation plan to prioritise the total regeneration of social housing complexes within the city centre as well as the ambition shown by Dublin City Council in the recently launched Dublin home building programme. There is concrete evidence of the Government's commitment to regeneration at complexes within Dublin city. In the past ten years or so in Dublin city alone, there has been significant spending on regeneration projects, including the demolition and rebuilding of homes at St. Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens, St. Teresa's Gardens, Dominick Street and Dolphin House. Those are just examples.

Dolphin House is not finished.

My Department always welcomes-----

The Minister is saying it but it is not finished

-----applications for funding for regeneration-----

The Government has kicked to touch.

-----including for funding to support refit, retrofit and remedial works programmes. In the case of Oliver Bond flats, funding has not been withdrawn. Let us be very clear. There is plenty of funding available for the regeneration of Oliver Bond flats.

There is the letter.

There is the letter.

Deputy Ó Broin is fully aware of this.

The Minister refused the funding application from the council.

What the Department cannot-----

Tell the truth, Minister.

What has been refused?

Do not twist it.

The Minister decided this.

What the Department will not stand over is the reduction in the number of homes.

Pathetic.

The proposal includes-----

There would be 15 extra units in this plan.

Every time I try to speak in this Chamber and it is something the Deputy does not like-----

We cannot let the Minister lie in the House

-----he tries to shout me down.

The Minister is misleading the House. He refused funding.

These are shouting tactics because they do not want to-----

Tell the truth.

This is a Chamber. The Deputy does not want to listen because he does not want me to say what I am saying.

Read that sentence again.

I have the letter from the Department.

Let me say what I am saying. May I speak?

Will the Minister read again the sentence he just read?

Are you going to keep shouting me down?

The Minister should not be telling porkies.

Porky pies.

The Deputies are not doing this House or anybody any favours-----

Bomaite amháin here.

-----by constantly trying to shout me down.

Déanfaidh sé sin cúis. Lean ar aghaidh.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. The funding stands available for the regeneration of Oliver Bond House. What the Department cannot stand over is a reduction in the number of homes. We will not fund a reduction in the number of homes.

There are 15 extra homes in this proposal, a net increase.

The proposal includes a 30% reduction in the number of homes. There is not a net increase in the number of homes in this regeneration project.

I have the map. Maybe the Minister could look at-----

Since 2015, the Department has spent over €500 million on regeneration projects across Limerick, Cork and Dublin, as well as providing additional funding for planned maintenance, voids programmes, energy efficiency upgrades and refurbishment works. The Government has made available substantial funding. In terms of how we govern in this country, we govern in a way that we ensure we have a strong economy that benefits local communities. We have to have both. We have to have the money to be able to spend it. That happens through the good management of the economy. As I have highlighted, Montpelier, Donore, An Droichead Órga, Dorset Street and St. Mary's have all been significantly redeveloped. The pipeline for regeneration is extremely strong. I wish Deputy Ó Broin would stop putting out misinformation that the funding for regeneration has been withdrawn. The funding remains available. Dublin City Council knows full well that we will support regeneration, just as we did with Pearse House where a solution was found. What we will not do is fund a reduction in the number of homes available to people.

Just the number of people living there. Fewer people will live there under the Minister's policy.

That is the reality of the position.

That is shameful.

The Minister talks about a strong economy. A strong economy is not made up of thousands of homeless children who face Christmas after Christmas in emergency accommodation. A strong economy is not made up of young renters who cannot afford to buy a home and feel they will never have the ability to do so under this Government. A strong economy is certainly not made up of all of those people who feel they never will have a future in Galway city, a place they are from, because they simply cannot afford to rent or buy and there is no prospect of ever building a home there. I am outraged by the disastrous way in which the Minister has handled the housing crisis. I have been an elected representative in Galway city for the past 12 years and in that time I have never seen the housing crisis as bad as it is now under the watch of the Minister. That is the reality of the situation. I am constantly speaking to young people who tell me they are paying €2,000 or more in rent each month and have no option to buy or provide a future and stable environment for their young children because of the policies of the Government. This is not a natural disaster. This is a man-made disaster caused by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments which continue to fail to meet the demand in terms of housing supply for the people Galway. Bhí mé ar na hoileáin amach ó chósta na Gaillimhe inné. Bhí mé ag caint le daoine ar Inis Meáin agus Inis Oírr agus bhí an rud ceannann céanna le rá acu sin. Níl deiseanna tithíochta ar na hoileáin sa chaoi chéanna nach bhfuil tithíocht ar fáil do mhuintir chathair na Gaillimhe ach an oiread. Níl sé de dheis acu tithe a cheannacht ann nó a thógáil agus is féidir rá go cinnte nach bhfuil an deis acu tithe a fháil ar cíos. Tá na lochtanna seo ar fad ann mar gheall ar chinntí a rinne Rialtais de chuid Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael ar feadh na mblianta. Tá sé thar am don Rialtas rud éigin a dhéanamh chun stop a chur leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta.

I have spoken to tenants in various Dublin City Council properties and I know they feel the exact same as tenants in Cork City Council flats. They feel that when it comes to housing, they are at the absolute back of the queue. It is a case of out of sight, out of mind and they are shuttered away. Not only has the Government neglected buildings, it has neglected people. These people are watching their children with lung conditions becoming unhealthy. Every year they are throwing out bags of clothes and other possessions because of damp. They are dealing with rodents and very often local authorities tell them it is their problem, despite the fact that they are local authority buildings. There are issues with how city councils in Dublin, Cork City Council and elsewhere manage properties. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the Minister. He spoke about misinformation and referred to progress happening. It was said that progress is glacial but at least a glacier moves forward a small bit. Tenants in Cork City Council flats in Togher, including those on Cherry Tree Road, Sycamore Place, Togher Road, Clashduv and Hazel Road, have seen no progress in the past three years. I have dealt with one tenant over the past couple of months who has had issues with a chimney collapsing and a banister falling off the stairs in the flat, and is now dealing with a rodent problem. Throughout this, Cork City Council has not offered the tenant alternative accommodation. At the end of the day, there has been no investment in these flats and no prospect of it as far as I can see. There are profound issues. People renting in the private sector have to deal landlords who let people live in poor conditions but as far as I am concerned, the State and the Minister, as the landlord, are neglecting people. The Minister is leaving them in the cold and damp. Some of the conditions in these flats are appalling. They are way beyond their shelf life. I have heard stories of children who have cut their hands on jagged railings that have rusted away to nothing. There are issues with subsidence. There is a need for urgent investment. This is in the Taoiseach's constituency. I ask the Minister to speak to the Taoiseach. He should visit these flats. I am sure he has passed them many times. He should see the conditions. No family in any form of accommodation in this country should have to deal with rodents crawling all over their kitchens. That is the reality in too many of these homes in Desmond Square, Fort Street and Dean Street. Those complexes still do not have clarity about what is happening. Nobody deserves to live in such conditions and it is the responsibility of the Minister to address that.

I recently undertook a housing survey across the State. There is more information in it than in everything the Minister or Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, said earlier because these are the facts. I will give the Minister a few facts. Some 83% of people said they had maintenance issues with black mould all over their houses. Some 77% of people said they had damp. They are major issues. Black mould, damp and cold in homes can do damage to people, including young people, people with asthma, people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, and people with disabilities. Dublin City Council and other city councils are trying to increase rents. People have to leave their heating on constantly and Ministers have said summer is coming. It does not matter if it is winter or summer; the flats are cold all year round because they have not been retrofitted or regenerated. The Minister has come in with facts and figures. Deputy McDonald and I asked the Minister, to come to the flats in the inner cities of Dublin and Cork to see what people have to put up with. I have been in some flat complexes in Dublin and met residents and it is the same in Cork. The conditions are horrendous. These are proud people from proud communities who keep their houses immaculate. They try to do everything right but if the windows are falling out, the doors are loose and there is no insulation or proper heating, what are they supposed to do? Some of these flats are 80 or 90 years old. The Minister has said the Government will do something and then tried to blame local authorities, the council and residents. The Minister is trying to blame everyone. He is the Minister and is part of the Government. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have never given a damn about working class people or cared about people who live in flats because they never voted for them. They have abandoned and betrayed them for years. I live on Cathedral Road. Behind me is Mary Aikenhead. The houses are freezing cold. In Blackpool, Castleknock or Baker's Road, there are freezing cold homes. What is the Minister doing? He is blaming everyone instead of doing his job.

The approach of the Minister to inner-city flat complex regeneration is fundamentally flawed. After three long years of consultation with the local community on Oliver Bond Street, Dublin City Council made a very detailed proposal. It would take 74 1930s flats and bring them up to modern standards with a loss of 28 units. It identified a brand-new site, adjacent to Oliver Bond flats, with an additional 43 units. That is a net increase of 15 homes. In addition to that, there would be a community centre. The Minister has refused funding for that. The letter was sent to the council this week. He has refused funding on the most spurious of grounds, namely, that the Department cannot accept a reduction in the number of units. What the Minister is proposing is that instead of having an adequate mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes in these large flat complexes, these will have to be scaled down to a large volume of studios, one-beds and some two-beds. That is going to fundamentally undermine the coherence of those housing estates. The Minister will not be able to do that across all of the blocks in Pearse House or in Oliver Bond flats. It is a fundamentally flawed approach. This policy says fewer people will live there. The units will be maintained - this fictional target - but fewer people will live there. With respect to the other schemes the Minister has mentioned, he listed off a series of regeneration schemes where communities were destroyed ten or 20 years ago, flung to the four corners of our city, and only now the Department is finally getting around to rebuilding them. The Minister's approach to this is a mistake and it is one he needs to reverse. I think he is being badly advised by the Department. He is refusing to listen to the residents who have given enormous amounts of time to this consultation. The irony is that if a private landlord was the owner of these flats, they would be in front of the Residential Tenancies Board, fined and the problems would be fixed. If an approved housing body was the landlord of these flats, it would be in front of the Residential Tenancies Board and forced to fix them. However, the Minister is refusing funding, is pursuing a failed policy and, as a consequence, thousands of people in Dublin, Cork and elsewhere will live in slum conditions. That is his policy. He can come into the House and speak for four or five minutes, having not listened to the debate, and think that might convince somebody. It does not convince us and, more importantly, it does not convince the residents in the flats he is allowing to live in squalor. He should reverse the decision, change the policy, fund the councils to fix the flats and stop misleading this House with information about what is going on on the streets of Dublin, Cork and elsewhere.

Hear, hear.

De réir Bhuan-Ordaithe 85(2), cuirfear an vótáil siar go dtí an chéad am vótála seachtainiúil eile, Dé Céadaoin, an 13 Bealtaine 2026.