James Browne

I thank the Deputies for their questions. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the management situation. In the context of Deputy Ó Broin's question, I will get an answer for that. I do not have the information to hand.

I thank the Deputy for tabling this important question. I will address some of the issues that have arisen. The Government decided in 2017 that water charges would not be levied on domestic customers and that the funding of domestic water services would instead be met through general taxation and paid through my Department's Vote. This position remains unchanged. There is a provision for charging…

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to reiterate the Government's position on it. I reiterate that there is no work being done on this issue. The measure is not in the current programme for Government. There are no plans to introduce it. We will not be taking any further action in relation to it.

There will not be any return. That has always been clear. There was a proposal by the previous Government to bring in water conservation charges. It is noticeable that Sinn Féin did not table a Bill to change the legislation during the previous Government's term of office. It has now put forward a Bill that has made the front page of a newspaper. It is interesting that when it was proposed to do t…

On Lismore, I do not have the information to hand. I will certainly raise the matter with Uisce Éireann, however. If the Deputy sends me the details, we will follow up on that. Of course, I am sure the situation in Cork is always kept under review by Uisce Éireann. However, I will again raise that matter with Uisce Éireann.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important question on the role of accessibility officers in Dublin City Council and the oversight mechanisms that are in place to ensure future housing developments meet universal design standards. These are issues in respect of which he has long campaigned, even before he came to the Dáil. Under the Disability Act 2005, each local authority is required to hav…

Their work should certainly not be treated as an add-on; it should be focused on ensuring compliance with the Disability Act. We have had a number of these officers in my local authority in County Wexford. They have been absolutely excellent in ensuring that the relevant requirements are met. I will certainly reach out to the local authorities to remind them of the importance of this role. I will …

I certainly agree with the Deputy. As someone who has served on a town council and a county council, I am a great believer in local democracy. We will be strengthening the role of county councillors throughout the country. We will be setting up a task force soon which will report quickly to ensure that councillors have their role to be able to hold officials to account where they are not meeting t…

Tenant in situ acquisitions were introduced by Government in 2023 in response to a reported uplift in sales by landlords under the HAP and RAS schemes. Such acquisitions have been an important measure in preventing homelessness. The Government therefore agreed to continue the programme in 2025. My Department has notified local authorities about the extension of the programme. A circular setting ou…

It is not only families.

In fairness, I think I was supposed to respond before Deputy Hearne, so if he wants to speak after me again, I have no difficulty with that. With the tenant in situ scheme, we believe that criteria need to be applied to it. It was introduced as a temporary measure. It is there as a last resort to prevent people from going into homelessness. I responded to all of this last night. It is somewhat fru…

I thank the House for the debate on the report of the Housing Commission and the views put forward throughout it. I once again express my appreciation to the commission members for their time, effort and commitment. It is clear from the views expressed during the debate that there is much we agree upon about where we must get to. That said, it is unsurprising that we are not all agreed, given the …

Some €325 million is being made available-----

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, has stated, it is a clear focus of the Government to increase the supply of new build social and affordable homes. Increasing the overall housing supply is key to addressing the housing challenge and preventing, and ultimately eliminating, long-term homelessness. This being said, I …

I welcome the opportunity to speak today on the work of the Housing Commission and the significant work the Government is doing and will continue to do to implement the commission’s recommendations. Before I do so, I wish to say I am honoured to have been afforded the opportunity to take on the housing brief. I look forward to contributing to an area which has the potential to significantly enhan…

I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion. We all have a shared ambition of solving the housing crisis. We may come at it from different angles but keeping the debate going is very important. I will address the comment Deputy Bacik made yesterday on me not being present for Private Members' business last week. The Cabinet was sitting at the time. That is where I was, but two Ministers o…

I am here.

I am here.

I thank everybody who has contributed to this very important debate. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, stated at the outset, this Government is absolutely committed to building more homes in Ireland. We are working continuously to meet the challenge to design and implement policies that shift the dial on delivery and to review and improve our approach where we identify obstacles…

I assure the Deputy that the URDF, like the RRDF, is crucial to towns and villages across the country. The programme for Government provides for an expanded URDF programme under what would be known as the towns and cities infrastructure investment fund. The programme is very important and will be launched as soon as we can get it ready.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "commends the rapid response by local authorities, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Networks, Uisce Éireann, Community Welfare Officers and others, following Storm Éowyn; and this response, supported by the Defence Forces, Government agencies, Civil Defence and the Voluntary Emergency Services, worki…

We have a plan.

A Framework for Major Emergency Management: a Guide to Severe Weather Emergencies.

It is for severe weather emergencies.

We did.