John Cummins

I cannot give the Deputy a date for that. The matter is being kept under active review. We have obviously enhanced the measures to try to improve the BERs relating to our rental stock. The Deputy is right to say that the ESRI has completed valuable work on this matter. It has stated that four in five rented dwellings currently have BERs below B and the estimated cost of upgrading the housing stock…

As the Deputy will know, a significant scheme, namely the home energy upgrade loan scheme, is in place. It was launched last year and is used to provide loans of between €5,000 and €75,000 at levels significantly below prevailing interest rates in order to try to address the scale of the challenge that has been identified in the ESRI report. As stated, four in five rental properties are below a B …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 15, 21, 83, 105 and 112 together. As I said in my previous reply, this Government is committed to tackling the issue of vacancy and dereliction. The vacant homes action plan published in January 2023 sets out a range of measures and actions being pursued to return vacant and derelict properties to use as homes. In March, the Minister, Deputy Browne, and I publ…

It is the intention that local authorities will still have a significant role to play in the context of the new derelict sites tax by creating the register that Revenue will implement. There has been an issue in collecting the existing levy. That is why we are moving to introduce it as a tax that will be collected by Revenue. We encourage people to use the supports there and if they do not use th…

As the Minister, Deputy Browne, has outlined, there has been a very significant package of measures announced yesterday to accelerate the delivery of housing and this will be built upon further in the housing plan, which will be published in the coming weeks. I would like to take a few moments to talk through a few of the areas within my own delegated functions. These are local government and pla…

They are €5,000 in the North.

They are more than £4,500 in the North.

Is Sinn Féin cutting them up there?

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025 before the House today. Members will recall the size of the Planning and Development Bill 2024, which was enacted last year. Many of us worked extensively on that legislation, both at the joint Oireachtas committee and in both Houses. While the implementation of this Act is …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which he consistently does. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site as defined in the Act. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate …

The Deputy does not have to shout in order to make his points. We can all make valid points without shouting across the Chamber at one another. It is true to say that dereliction is a really important issue. It is not one that local authorities or Government are ignoring. The Deputy knows full well because we both sat on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage all …

As I said, the Government has put in place a number of schemes to empower local authorities on the exact thing the Deputy just mentioned. There is a revolving fund through URDF call 3 for the compulsory purchase of properties. It is true that some local authorities are doing better than others. We want to mainstream best practice across all local authorities. There are also other schemes such as r…

I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter, as he regularly does in this Chamber . His advocacy for Kildare is certainly well noted. As he will be aware, I was in Kildare last Thursday, when I visited the local authority and engaged with the executive team. Much of what the Deputy has raised here in his question was the subject of the discussion we had. The system of funding of local governme…

It is the case that, through a decision made in Cabinet today on the LPT model, there will be a significant increase in LPT for Kildare County Council as part of its 2026 figures. That will be made up from an increase in the baseline figures but also from the retention element moving from 22.5% to 31%. It means that Kildare County Council will have an additional €4.9 million in funding in LPT for …

I have no doubt that the Deputy will continue to use this Chamber to be a strong advocate for north Kildare and the county as a whole. The Deputy is right about the LPT; there is a recognition in the Government of the increased pressures on areas like Kildare. That is why we are saying as a Government, in line with the decisions that have been made by the Cabinet and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, as he has done previously. As I do, the Deputy recognises the importance of translating what we have approved in this House in the national planning framework into getting it implemented by local authorities in their development plans as early as possible. That is why the Minister, Deputy Browne, has written to local authorities telling them to prepare a…

I can assure the Deputy that there will be headroom in the housing growth requirements. Obviously, there will be the base, in line with what is in the national planning framework, which is to provide about 54,000 homes per annum. This is a significant increase compared with the 33,000 previously. There is a requirement in the base for a significant additional zoning requirement. As we know that no…

I thank both Deputies. Increasing housing supply in all parts of the country is critical. The variation process in terms of the county development plans is a very important part of this. That is why such extensive work has been done in the Department to ensure that the housing growth requirements are aligned with the NPF and that they also allow for additional headroom in terms of zoning requireme…

The zoning of land is an exercise undertaken by planning authorities as part of their development plan process. The making of a development plan is a reserved function of the elected members of each planning authority who are required by legislation to be consistent with the established statutory national and regional planning policy and legislation, including, as identified in the national planni…

It is the requirement of local authorities and the reserved function of members to decide what locations and what specific zoning objectives they determine for each land bank. They are required to include mandatory objectives regarding regeneration and to provide zoning for residential, commercial, employment and enterprise, industrial and other uses to such extent as the proper planning and susta…

I appreciate the comments the Deputy made. It is not just for residential purposes; it is for industrial and commercial. While we do not instruct local authorities on specific areas, it is obviously a requirement to forward planning teams to look at the overall picture within a local authority area and determine where they feel residential, commercial, industrial zoning is appropriate and ensure t…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises that: — Housing for All sets out an ambitious multi-annual programme that seeks to deliver more than 300,000 new homes by 2030; — record levels of investment are being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding now available of almost €6.8 billion; — the c…

There is no arrogance.

There is no arrogance on my behalf.

Stop using lines like that.