James Browne

It has been made about density instead of being about regeneration. We fully support and will fund the regeneration. It needs to happen. It could have happened by now. We want it to happen at speed-----

Because the local authority made it about density instead of regeneration.

This needs to happen and it needs to happen quickly.

It needs to happen in terms of ensuring people have the quality homes, updated homes and upgraded homes they deserve to live in, instead of it being made about density, which Deputy Ó Broin has made it about and so has the local authority in the past.

I thank the Deputy for her question in relation to this matter. Supporting individuals and families who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness, including victims and survivors of domestic abuse, is very much a priority for me, my Department and the Government. The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a cross-departmental multi-agency issue, with the Depar…

I assure the Deputy that there is no slippage on this. This will be established and implemented this year. Once the protocols are finalised, I will be issuing that direction to the local authorities to ensure that people can travel from one local authority to another when fleeing domestic violence without losing time spent on the first authority's list. In fairness, I have generally found my own l…

I recognise that the Deputy has raised this on many occasions. She has been very consistent on it. This protocol is coming. It would be welcome if, in anticipation of the protocol, local authorities accepted what they know is now going to come.

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for raising this important issue with regard to the SCSI and the draft follow-up on construction costs under the defective concrete block grant scheme. My Department keeps costs relating to the defective concrete blocks scheme under continuous review. As the Deputy is aware, following updated costs reports from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and advice from…

We continuously keep the scheme under review through consistent and regular stakeholder engagement. An implementation steering group for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme has been in place since 2023 and comprises officials from relevant local authorities, my Department, the Housing Agency and homeowner liaison officers. This regular stakeholder engagement is augmented by regular meetings…

I am very conscious of the distressing situation people in Donegal and other counties are going through. I have been to Donegal and spent considerable time listening to people and getting a better understanding of the distressing situation they are in. The wider review has to start on or before July 2026. It may start sooner if the review comes in in relation to IS 465/2018 being changed because t…

I thank the Deputy for the question, which relates to Elm Park in Buncrana and advancement of the plans to relocate families. The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 commenced on 22 June 2023. It underpins the current grant scheme and the related regulations that were adopted on 29 June 2023. I visited Donegal last year and met with many of the affecte…

I thank the Deputy and the other Deputies in Donegal for their work in this area. I have met with the families and seen the videos. We know flood relief schemes take a considerable time. That relocation proposal needs to be advanced. I will continue to work with the residents and with the Deputies from Donegal on coming up with a scheme as quickly as possible. The current legislation did not neces…

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí as ucht an rúin seo. Ní chuirfidh an Rialtas in aghaidh an rúin seo. Le comhaontú an Tí, leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh le mo ráiteas i mBéarla. The Government is not opposing this motion given the urgent need for housing and the Government's housing action plan, Delivering Homes, and Building Communities 2025-2030, which includes a range of actions aimed at increasing …

Maybe the Deputy wants to elaborate on what standard of Irish he wants me to be able to say I have.

We are getting into gradation.

I thank all Deputies for their contributions. Addressing homelessness and increasing the supply of homes required to do so is my absolute priority. The programme for Government is committed to working towards ending homelessness by 2030. To meet this commitment, Delivering Homes, Building Communities was developed as an integrated housing and homeless plan. The new plan is based on two key pillars…

I was called out for not being here and I am responding to that.

The Deputy is here to raise a Topical Issue; he is not here for this debate. We are seeing a race to the bottom with this Trump-style anger that is expressed only in the hope of getting elected if enough anger is created against the Government. The Labour Party did that in 2011, and where did it end up?

The party created a kind of Faustian pact by whipping up anger among people. I ask that Members opposite deal with the issues at hand and stop trying to create bogeymen for vote-getting purposes That will solve nothing. Everyone on this side of the House wants to solve homelessness. I do not expect Members opposite to agree with our policies. That is not how it works or should work. Challenging u…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: acknowledges that: — the new housing plan 'Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030: An Action Plan on Housing Supply and Targeting Homelessness', is focussed on putting in place the conditions to enable delivery of a minimum of 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030; — the plan includes a c…

As we know, we live in a housing crisis. That is a supply crisis. We have a rental crisis which is a supply crisis, and we have a homelessness crisis which is a supply crisis. What we are endeavouring to do here is strengthen tenants' rights, which we are doing through security of tenure, which means tenants will know how long they can stay in a property, while driving investment. I say to Deputy …

You stand up here and you are constantly attacking anything to do with investment. You seem to believe that bandying around the words "landlord" or "investment" is enough mud to keep throwing.

Nobody in this House has a monopoly on empathy.

We are trying to solve what is a housing crisis driven by a supply crisis. What have we heard from the Opposition? Have we heard a single solution? The Deputies' only proposal - Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to misery - is to freeze the housing crisis into a permanent misery. That is what they are looking to do.

What they want to do is keep the current situation in perpetuity. What I need to do to solve the housing crisis is not simply about protecting existing renters. It is about all those people at home who need somewhere to live.