Questions

635. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will be allocating funding to Dublin Zoo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55296/25]

636. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on workforce planning in An Coimisiúin; the additional resources which are planned in order to accelerate decisions on renewable energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55352/25]

637. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department and each body under its aegis discloses expenditure on external consultancy and adviser fees, by category (details supplied) in their annual report and or financial statements for each accounting year; if they provide direct web links to the most recent publications where these Section 1.5 disclosures are set out …

638. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the delivery of Measure 8 pilot wastewater schemes in Cooraclare and Broadford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55378/25]

639. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if local authorities can be permitted to exercise limited discretion when the income threshold for social housing is marginally exceeded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55383/25]

640. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the two-year restriction is being reviewed or removed regarding the housing in situ scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55411/25]

641. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the date by which he will commence section 587 of the Planning and Development Act 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55433/25]

642. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to examine the implications of the new regulations (details supplied) to be introduced in March 2026 whereby smaller landlords with three or fewer tenancies can terminate a new rolling six-year tenancy on the grounds of intending to sell at the end of the 6-year period. [55468/25]

643. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that small landlords in rural areas (like the North West) are leaving the market in anticipation of the new regulations, reducing the amount of available rental properties putting further pressure on an existing limited market; if he has engaged with stake holders including auctioneers and letting agents to discus…

644. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on his Department’s work to develop embodied carbon methodology and to establish structures in line with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive to reduce carbon in construction materials for all new buildings, as committed to in the Climate Action Plan 2025 and due in Quarter 3 2025; and if he will make a …

645. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on his Department’s work to complete a built environment and planning scoping exercise, as committed to in the Climate Action Plan 2025 and due in Quarter 3 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55490/25]

646. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on his Department’s publishing the Bill to transpose the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, as committed to in the Climate Action Plan 2025 and due in Quarter 3 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55491/25]

647. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on his Department’s development of a sectoral adaptation plan for the biodiversity sector, as committed to in the Climate Action Plan 2025 and due in Quarter 3 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55492/25]

648. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on his Department’s development of a sectoral adaptation plan for the water quality sector, as committed to in the Climate Action Plan 2025 and due in Quarter 3 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55493/25]

649. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of housing units that have been realised from July 2022 to date from projects that availed of the Vacant Homes Refurbishment Grant in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny and Waterford, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55525/25]

650. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a breakdown of the pre and post BER of homes retrofitted as part of the retrofitting scheme in each of the years 2020 to 2025 to date, broken down by scheme, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55762/25]

651. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection if under the successor scheme to the basic income for arts announced in Budget 2026, for individuals who are in receipt of social welfare payments, including disability allowance and carers allowance will be permitted to retain those payments while participating in the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55097/25]

652. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide an update on current and future employment initiatives to support people with an intellectual disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55405/25]

653. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to alter the criteria for carer's allowance for twins, which currently pays at one and half rate, to allowing a carer to receive full rate carer’s allowance for each individual twin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54576/25]

654. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will re-examine an application made for carer’s allowance (details supplied) in respect of backdating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54577/25]

655. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Social Protection the options available to a person who has paid class D contributions rather than class A contributions for the entirety of their career, and now has limited access to supports such as illness benefit/illness pension, in view of the fact that they have been medically signed off as unfit to return to their job in the health service; and if he will make a …

656. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason the guardian's payment (contributory) for a person (details supplied) was discontinued when the person began to receive disability allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54758/25]

657. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will commission and publish research into legal gender recognition for those aged under 16 years-of-age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54773/25]

658. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will establish a process by which Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland (NI) can access Irish gender recognition; if he will work with the United Kingdom (UK) and NI authorities to reinstate Ireland on the list of approved countries for recognising foreign gender recognition in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54774/25]

659. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) was not awarded the blind pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54897/25]