The Department never makes projections of what housing delivery will be. We have heard in the past number of weeks everything from 30,000 to 40,000 through different sectors in terms of various projections for completions. The outcome will be what will be. My intention will be to maximise the delivery of housing over the next 12 months and, indeed, over the next number of years. As Minister for housing, I am re-exami…
TDs / James Browne
James Browne
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
145,875
words spoken in the chamber
145,131 as a minister, 744 as a TD
431
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 670 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 13 |
| March 2025 | 36 |
| April 2025 | 15 |
| May 2025 | 46 |
| June 2025 | 41 |
| July 2025 | 60 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 32 |
| October 2025 | 59 |
| November 2025 | 46 |
| December 2025 | 20 |
| January 2026 | 51 |
| February 2026 | 43 |
| March 2026 | 43 |
| April 2026 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 70 |
| June 2026 | 27 |
| July 2026 | 22 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 2 |
| October 2026 | 41 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 394 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Wexford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage 23 January 2025 to now
I agree, in that apartment delivery has collapsed. That is very clear. We need to have radical thinking in terms of how we get that supply of apartments moving again. That is where the significant shortfall in reaching our targets has happened, particularly in Dublin city but also in our other cities, including Limerick. Apartments need to be delivered. I intend to take significant action to get those moving. I am wa…
The Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale, with a record level of investment being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025 - capital funding of €6.5 billion supplemented by current funding of €1.65 billion. The number of new-build social homes in the pipeline for delivery in the three-year period 2025 to 2027 is circa 36,000 ho…
I thank the Deputy for his question. We received an additional €450 million a couple of weeks ago to release up to 3,000 new properties to be delivered. We are working our way through those approvals as quickly as possible. As the Deputy will know, they need to be assessed before final approval. The majority of those have now been done. It is something that is in flux at any moment in time, but I expect the last of t…
I understand the frustration among local authorities and approved housing bodies but there was a general election, which caused a certain delay in projects. Those projects are being worked through now as quickly as possible, though. A final check always has to be done on every project before its approval is notified to the local authority. I cannot guarantee that every single house will be approved within that, if an…
The planning permission data released by the CSO last week is concerning. It can be seen within the data that the overall dip is driven mainly by a fall in the permissions for apartments.
This illustrates the enormous challenge of meeting our revised housing targets, the critical role of apartment delivery in this regard, and the importance of securing private capital investment to fund this delivery at the levels n…
This year the Government has already committed €6.5 billion towards delivering housing in this country. We need probably a minimum of €20 billion spent on housing to deliver the necessary housing. The rest of that money has to come from the private sector. Financial firms, whether national or international, are a key part of that because you need that private funding to deliver those properties.
While the Deputy is …
It is private finance that will also want a profit. No matter what way you do it, private finance will always seek a profit - even those Irish savers if you tapped into them. I am not against that. We are going to examine that carefully to see if that can be done, but they will still want a profit for their funding. They are not going to put their money away if they do not think they are going to make a profit. No ma…
I thank the Deputy for his question. Under Housing for All, the Government set out plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost-rental homes, by 2030. The target for 2024 across all of the various delivery streams was 6,400.
A comprehensive implementation strategy is in place to support the various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of delivery…
As I say, I am awaiting the quarter 4 figures to be verified but I anticipate 2024 will be the best year to date for the delivery of affordable homes by our delivery partners. We will continue to work with all of our partners to increase the delivery of affordable homes in any shape or manner that they can be delivered in.
Rents for cost-rental homes are set to cover the cost of delivery, financing and managing and maintaining the homes modelled over at least 40 years. Cost rents paid will vary between households and schemes and is dependent on the size of the home and the location but cost rental is a more affordable option compared with the pressures of the private market and will always be made available at least 25% below comparabl…
The tenant in situ acquisitions programme has been a key measure in the prevention of homelessness since its introduction in 2023. Therefore, Government has agreed funding to continue the programme for 2025. My Department has notified local authorities on the extension of the programme, and a circular setting out the arrangements will issue shortly.
In 2023, Fingal County Council purchased a total of 221 homes, exce…
I thank the Deputy for this important question. I am very much aware of the housing crisis right across this country that causes very serious pain and suffering for individual families as a result. That is why I am determined to get our housing deliveries increased at a significant level. The tenant in situ scheme is a programme to ensure that people do not become homeless. That is why €325 million has been made avai…
I can assure the Deputies that this is an absolute priority for me. It is not ideal that it was not resolved before the general election. The funding is now in place. I will be acting with absolute speed to get this circular out. The very same people who are in that very distressing situation come to me. It might surprise Deputy O'Reilly but they do come to Fianna Fáil TDs as well-----
-----and they come to my office and my clinics.
The Deputy does not have a monopoly on sympathy in these situations. We are doing everything we can to address the housing crisis.
I thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this very important question regarding St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore. She has been pursuing a campaign and working extremely hard on the matter for some time.
Under Housing for All, the Government set out plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost-rental homes, by 2030. To deliver on this objective, the Government has put in pl…
I again thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this matter. I know how hard she has pursued it. I do not foresee any further delays. There should not be any further delays. As stated, €66.15 million has been approved for allocation from the fund. This is an exceptionally large amount of money that is needed. Such a large amount deserves to be granted in respect of a project of this type. I will certainly do everything I can…
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 for excess use of d…
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 this, Sinn Féin did n…
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 have at least one offic…
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 also remind them tha…