James Browne

I thank the Deputy. Unlike connections in the delivery of new housing, reconnections are not a measure of tackling vacancy and dereliction, as many vacant properties never lost their connections. The vacant property refurbishment grant, funded under the croí cónaithe towns fund, has been a key measure in addressing vacancy and dereliction. At the end of the first quarter of 2026, more than 17,400…

It is not a measure.

I did not question the facts.

The Deputy seems to be under a basic misapprehension about how the grant works. A property does not have to be disconnected from electricity to get the grant. Therefore, the CSO statistics might be correct, but they do not reflect the argument or opinion the Deputy is putting forward. The conclusion he is drawing from them is incorrect. No one is disputing CSO statistics, but the Deputy's conclusi…

-----and successful scheme and the above the shop grant is now adding to it.

As the Deputy will know and understand, in relation to the number of vacant properties, properties become vacant and not vacant. They are not all the same properties.

We have significant schemes to tackle vacancy and dereliction. They are being availed of by the public. They are bringing a significant number of properties back into use. I want to see them used even more and see even more properties being brought back into use to tackle vacancy and dereliction, and that is what we will continue to do.

The new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030, reinforces and expands the range of existing affordable housing measures being implemented by the Government. In particular, the plan provides for an unprecedented level of State funding in order to deliver an average of 15,000 starter home supports annually between now and 2030. Last year represented a record year in terms of…

It is an important and indeed an interesting question, and depending on what approach had been taken it would affect prices. With an all-in cost approach we would have had very significant variation in prices depending on input costs. That could lead to dramatically different prices even for apartments in developments side by side. In my view the open market value approach is the correct one as it…

I am not aware but I will certainly enquire.

I thank Deputy O'Meara for this important question about levies on one-off housing. I thank the Deputy for his ongoing engagement with me and the Department in terms of how we can deliver more homes in County Tipperary and at an affordable price. Development contributions allow local authorities to recoup some of the public costs of servicing land for private development. They provide a mechanism …

I again thank the Deputy for raising the important question about development fees on rural one-off homes and the cost they put on those families who are building those homes and who often do not get the same benefits as one might in a town, for example, or within the confines of a village. Nonetheless, the contribution that is charged to those families who are building those homes is set by the l…

I again thank the Deputy for his contribution. There is significant work being done around the rural housing guidelines and I thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, also. We are very much working together to ensure we can have liberalisation of rural housing that works for people in rural Ireland. We will bring forward those proposals in the very near future. In the meantime, w…

I thank the Deputy for his very important question about retrofitting in County Louth. We have put substantial funding into retrofitting and we encourage local authorities to move as quickly as possible with retrofitting schemes. Where retrofitting works are carried out, it brings extraordinary comfort to families. It also helps to tackle fuel poverty, which is really important as part of our retr…

I acknowledge the Deputy's concern for people who live in social housing. I visited County Louth recently. I acknowledge the fantastic progress of Louth County Council in terms of delivering social homes, but I also recognise that it has a very large social housing list and faces a particular challenge with regard to the high level of homelessness within the county and the wider region. I have met…

I again thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of retrofitting of social homes in County Louth. We very much recognise the importance of it for people's quality of life. Louth County Council has an excellent record on all the targets in providing supports, whether it is retrofitting, building social homes or other supports. It is a council that other councils could look up to in terms of…

I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this very important issue of the upward revision of social housing qualifying limits. As the Deputy will know, the then Minister for housing, Deputy O'Brien, increased the limits in 2023, as I recall, by about €5,000 for each of the various limits. That was to catch up with inflation and increases in social welfare payments, but time has moved on since then. We …

I thank both Deputies for their contributions. Deputy Ó Broin is correct; I said we were going to look at whether there were any other mechanisms. I agree that while there is a call for increasing the limits, and understandably so as welfare payments increase, inflation increases or society changes, it ends up with this question as to when the Minister will increase the limits and it is up to the …

I will carry out this review as quickly as possible, or certainly the initial one on the limits, and then we can look at a deeper review. On the disregards, one of the agencies did an assessment of these and they were quite inconsistent across the various local authorities as to what is or is not allowed as a disregard, which can lead to significant variations in who can or cannot get onto a list…

I am well off script at this point.

A principal private residence is somebody's own home. We have a rent-a-room scheme at the moment where people can rent a room out within their own property. The modular units that would be on principal private residences, those being, people's homes, are being deemed an extension of their homes in that respect. Landlords cannot use this scheme. If you want to call people renting out a room in thei…

People are obviously renting out a room or modular unit in their homes. It is a very different scenario than a landlord renting out a property. However, it is acknowledged that people are renting out those rooms, albeit in people's homes, which are protected under the Constitution. It is a balancing act and a difficult situation. We want to ensure that anybody who is renting is being protected whi…

I will certainly keep the Deputy's concerns in mind. He comes from a position of genuine concern on this issue and for those who are renting out rooms. We know that the vast majority of people renting out rooms in their own homes and who will be renting out modular units under licence are good, local people. There will always be, of course, a certain number who will abuse a situation and we want t…

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…

My Department always welcomes-----