The current investment by the State-----
TDs / Christopher O'Sullivan
Christopher O'Sullivan
Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
40
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
101,536
words spoken in the chamber
99,157 as a minister, 2,379 as a TD
406
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
35
topics asked about
Across 12 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 40 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 222 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 1 | 13 |
| March 2025 | 3 | 28 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 16 |
| May 2025 | 2 | 11 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 12 |
| July 2025 | 3 | 24 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| October 2025 | 2 | 16 |
| November 2025 | 6 | 15 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| January 2026 | 4 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 2 | 14 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 7 |
| April 2026 | 3 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 2 | 17 |
| June 2026 | 2 | 7 |
| July 2026 | 3 | 8 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 3 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 5 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 110 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
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Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 29 January 2025 to now
-----is €6.8 billion. How do we make up that €13 billion gap? Is the State going to contribute that €13 billion in the context of seeing tariffs introduced and economic uncertainty?
We need to get real here.
Private investment is needed. The tenant in situ scheme has been extended but many Members said the scheme is over. It has been extended into 2025.
We cannot be any way clearer about that.
There is an emergency and we will use every lever possible to increase supply, make houses affordable and to end homelessness.
They are representing their constituents.
I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I know housing delivery in particular is something he is very passionate about and that he has always been dedicated to.
As part of the programme for Government, the Government committed to launching a new, comprehensive starter home programme across the public, private and approved housing body, AHB, sector. This promotes home ownership and secures long-term rental tenu…
The Deputy is right. The trends relating to the cost of purchasing properties is concerning but we firmly believe the best way to address that is by delivery. That is why we are committed to delivering 300,000 homes from 2025 to 2030. Since Housing for All started we have delivered 10,000 affordable solutions and that is gathering momentum. Keys for many of the affordable housing schemes in our county of Cork have be…
The Deputy raised a relevant point about the first home scheme. It is increasing in popularity as reflected by the numbers of people choosing to avail of it. If the goalposts seem to be moving in respect of the cost of houses and many properties are falling outside the scheme, the Minister has made a commitment to be flexible and agile in reviewing the schemes if that is needed. That will be ongoing. Decisions made o…
I know from our time shared on Cork County Council the delivery of affordable housing was something on which the Deputy was insistent and I am glad that much of this is coming to fruition. The Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver affordable housing at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. The Government’s ambition is to build on progress to date und…
I am very familiar with his passion for affordable housing. He was always an advocate for social housing of all sorts and in Cork county in particular, he has been one of the key voices in ramping up the delivery of different affordable housing solutions. There is a project to deliver 60 cost-rental homes in Kilnagleary, Carrigaline, which is very close to the Deputy's home area and is something he advocated for. Our…
Before Housing for All, there were no affordable housing schemes. Many of these schemes are in the process of being designed or built, or keys are being handed over for the first time. There is momentum and we expect acceleration in terms of scaling up and the number of affordable housing schemes that will be available. I have to give credit to Cork County Council officials in particular. Their social housing deliver…
I thank the Deputy for the question. I know voids and refurbishment are issues he has raised previously. The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, is a matter for each individual local authority under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure all their tenanted properties are compliant with th…
I agree that void houses are an issue, not just from an antisocial behaviour point of view. They are low-hanging fruit in terms of getting houses back into the social housing stock, where they are desperately needed. Some local authorities are better than others but, to be fair, a lot of progress has been made. More than 25,000 voids have been returned to the housing stock in recent years, which means the schemes we …
I thank Deputy Gould for his contribution. As I said, €11,000 is not a limit - more can be put into individual houses - but that is an average. It can also be combined with those energy efficiency grants. Much can be done in terms of improving houses with those energy efficiency grants, which, as I said, are upwards of €48,000. If there are problem areas, I know the Minister, Deputy Browne, has an open-door policy. I…
I thank Deputy Ardagh. Tenant in situ acquisitions have been an important measure in the prevention of homelessness since their introduction in 2023. Government has therefore agreed to continue such acquisitions in 2025 and has increased the funding available for second-hand social housing acquisitions from the €60 million allocated under Housing for All to €325 million. This is being done through the allocation of a…
I thank Deputy Ardagh. In fairness to her, she is one of the many Government backbenchers who have called for both the continuation of the tenant in situ scheme and clarification in respect of it. We are glad to be able to confirm that the tenant in situ scheme will continue this year. It is important to provide clarity for people out there. I absolutely agree with the Deputy on that. The scheme has been a success. W…
I thank the Deputies. Addressing Deputy Ó Murchú on the issue of flexibility, the Minister already mentioned that in the context of any circulars or correspondence to local authorities, there will be a degree of flexibility. It will be certainly up to local authorities to implement the scheme.
There is nothing at all wrong with having some form of prioritisation. Most schemes involve prioritisation. It is good pract…
I welcome members of Family Carers Ireland to the Gallery. I am sure there are carers here as well. We really appreciate their attendance here today. I note the Labour Party motion, which sheds light on a very important matter we absolutely must tackle and deal with. I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this motion and on the important role young carers play in Ireland today. I thank my colleague, the Mi…
I thank Deputy Cummins. The Deputy's first Topical Issue was extremely well delivered. The Deputy may have answered the question in her own statement but we will get to that later. I appreciate the comments and I will feed back a lot of that.
On the provision of multidenominational education, the Government is committed to increasing the provision of education in line with the choices of parents, families and school…
The Deputy has asked some questions that I will endeavour to get answers to, namely, how long the survey and the process of reconfiguration will take. On the unmet needs in Dublin 8, I assume it does not take into account whether there is a desire to have multidenominational education or under different patronage. We can find that out. The approach is that, if capacity of any type can be met within any of the existin…
I thank Deputy Wall for raising this issue. Clearly he is in touch with the community there and is aware of the anguish that this type of move causes, the anxiety not just among the residents and their families but the community too, as people are worried about the future of residents. I wish to assure the Deputy that every effort will be made to ensure that proper care is given and that they are accommodated.
The n…
I presume when the Deputy says a service provider has visited the site, it is the site of the old centre which St. Vincent de Paul has given notice it is closing. I appreciate that and will get clarification on whether it is something that can happen. I will certainly ask the question. The Deputy also asked whether the Minister might be able to visit the community there. Certainly I can see how that would be a helpfu…
I thank Deputy Stanley. He has highlighted well the challenges they face in Rathdowney fire station. It sounds like they have a fantastic crew and great equipment but they need a new building. The first half of my response will be focused on Stradbally. The Deputy will be wondering why the hell I am focusing on Stradbally, but I will put it in context in the second half of the response, if that is okay.
The provisio…