If the Deputy wants me to respond to the motion, I will but-----
TDs / John Cummins
John Cummins
Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
5
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
74,724
words spoken in the chamber
74,684 as a minister, 40 as a TD
361
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
3
topics asked about
Across 2 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
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Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 5 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 264 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 5 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 6 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 18 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 25 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 13 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 34 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 19 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 18 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 19 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 21 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 11 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 31 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 19 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 4 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 162 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 Waterford 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 29 January 2025 to now
-----but if he does not want to hear what I have to say-----
Am I allowed to respond?
I would appreciate the same respect that I accord the Deputy in this Chamber all of the time.
I do not shout across the Deputy. I listened to him; I would appreciate if he could give me the same respect.
Thank you, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by the other side of the House, local authorities do generate significant rental income that should supplement central government funding in the area of maintenance because nobody in this Government wants to see anybody living in substandard accommodation.
Dublin City Council is working closely with the Department to determine the best solution for each complex, be that demolition and rebuild resulting in mixed-tenure communities or, where appropriate, deep retrofit and remedial works. Mention has been made of local authority staffing and while it should be noted that the operational responsibility for staff lies with Dublin City Council and the chief executive, I assu…
-----are both currently on-site. Construction has recently begun at An Droichead Órga in Inchicore, at the former St. Michael's estate next to the historic Richmond Barracks.
These three regeneration projects will revitalise their communities and deliver over 2,000 mixed-tenure homes, including cost-rental, affordable purchase and social housing once all phases are completed, with the support of Exchequer funding of over €460 million. This is clear evidence of the significant investment that Government is making-----
-----in the regeneration of Dublin city, which is in stark contrast to the motion before us.
The Department has funded Dublin City Council to the tune of €120 million for social housing regeneration projects completed in recent years, refurbishing or rebuilding 345 homes, including 72 homes at Dominick Street east-----
-----100 homes as part of Dolphin House phase 1, and 32 homes for older persons at Glin Court in Coolock.
The Department is funding eight projects currently on-site, delivering almost 1,000 homes at a total investment cost of €490 million. Additionally, Dublin City Council has a strong pipeline of regeneration projects that are currently at implementation phase, with building contractors on-site and construction pro…
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I always address through the Chair.
I would appreciate some extra time because I might not get finished as a result of the interruptions, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
To that end, and recognising the efforts of Dublin City Council to create an agreeable and sustainable plan, funding of €13 million for the retrofit and deep refurbishment of four blocks at Pearse House has recently been approved by my Department. This follows an initial rejection of an amalgamation proposal from DCC, which would have resulted in the loss of 43% of existing homes at a very high cost. The Department i…
The Department is acutely aware that regeneration programmes cannot succeed without the input from local communities. That is why Dublin City Council continues to seek input from existing communities in flat complexes at each stage of the regeneration process.
Their input is valued and all projects are advanced with the objective of improving the living conditions of these long-term established communities.
I have a couple more concluding comments and would appreciate some latitude, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, because I was interrupted several times.
We are aware of the collective complaint that was made to the European Committee of Social Rights in Strasbourg in 2017. It is for that very reason that Dublin City Council has been working on plans to regenerate all such flats through either deep retrofit or demolition and r…
I am listening to the Deputy.
I thank the Deputy for raising what is obviously an important matter. It is an issue of concern both locally and nationally. I appreciate the impact and challenges that shortages and outages of water have on communities around the country where they occur.
As the Deputy will be aware, since 1 January 2014, Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation a…
The Deputy raised valid points, particularly around the reservoir levels. Obviously, I cannot answer to that specific case in the Deputy's constituency, but he is correct in pointing out that the significant investment of taxpayer's money we are allocating to Uisce Éireann as a utility company to be able to deliver those generational projects, and also to deliver those smaller projects right across the country, is cr…
Shocking.
I thank the Deputy very much for raising what is a very important issue for the area of Kanturk - an area that the Deputy is exceptionally passionate about.
The operation of public wastewater treatment, together with the operational issues locally, are matters for Uisce Éireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services, planning, delivery and operational at national, regional and local le…
There is no question that our water and wastewater systems require substantial and sustained investment over a number of cycles to be able to bring it up to the quality required for a modern service. On the upgrading of plants, there have been many plants across the county that have been upgraded over the past number of years. I compliment Uisce Éireann for its work in that respect. However, there is a hell of a lot …
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in the House today. As the Deputy knows, the Land Development Agency, LDA, acquired land beside Clongriffin train station from the market with existing permission in 2023. It subsequently sought and was granted approval for a revised planning application, broadly similar to the existing planning which took into account the new objectives and policies in Dublin City Council's…
I thank the Deputy. Obviously, the successful delivery of projects of this scale are certainly dependent on a number of factors and that includes engagement with the community. Certainly, I know the Deputy would have written to his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Browne, in this respect and I am informed that there has been consultation meetings which have included meetings with local councillors, drop-in clinics for…