Questions

424. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the extension to the fuel subsidy support scheme will open to the construction sector; and the Department that will be overseeing this. [51841/26]

232. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there are any cases whereby HAP payments were reinstated or reimbursed to landlords during the Covid-19 moratorium period, where the HAP payments had earlier been suspended due to a tenant not paying their contribution to the local authority, but the landlord was prevented through temporary Covid-19 Government policy from…

1724. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the initial estimated allocation compared to the actual outturn for the period of carbon tax to his Department, disaggregated by the programme or measure funded, for each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25277/26]

1728. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of allocated carbon tax funding that remained unspent at year end; the amount surrendered back to the Exchequer via the Central Fund; the amount carried over via formal arrangements for deferred surrender; and whether amounts carried over were retained for the specific programme/measure originally allocated or tr…

732. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider the reintroduction of the waiver of development fees for persons building one-off rural dwellings where services such as lights, footpaths, water and waste are not being provided by the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10431/26]

645. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a house constructed in 2009 and not completed or lived in would be considered eligible for the vacant property grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6026/26]

1457. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the planning permission exemption for modular homes will be enacted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1670/26]

311. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether transport projects can lawfully proceed in an area where the planning authority has been found by the High Court to be in non-compliance with its mandatory duty to prepare a Local Area Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68544/25]

312. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the Office of the Planning Regulator received formal notifications about Local Area Plan non-compliance in a local authority (details supplied); the actions that followed from those notifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68545/25]

1106. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if carer’s allowance income is accessible when local authorities assess the income of a person in receipt of social housing supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59347/25]

378. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if Statutory Instrument No. 374 of 2024, European Union (invasive Alien Species) Regulations 2024, are retrospective to before the date of the statutory instrument or S.I.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49931/25]

386. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether Fingal County Council is currently in breach of statutory obligations under section 19 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, having failed to adopt Local Area Plans for multiple relevant urban areas since 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31636/25]

387. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he has considered issuing a direction under section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to Fingal County Council for its repeated failure to adopt mandatory local area plans in urban centres with populations over 5,000, as confirmed by the High Court in Byrne v FCC & Ors [2025] IEHC 204; and if he will ma…

388. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to clarify the current legal standing of planning permissions granted in North County Dublin in areas where local area plans have been statutorily required but not adopted since 2000, including whether such permissions are legally sound or open to challenge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31638/25]

389. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether county development plans adopted in the absence of required local area plans are legally valid; the advice issued to local authorities and An Bord Pleanála regarding zoning and planning in these circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31639/25]

390. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the absence of statutory local area plans in Fingal since 2000 constitutes a breach of Ireland’s obligations under Articles 6 and 7 of the Aarhus Convention and whether he has received legal advice on potential breaches of public participation rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31640/25]

391. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm the number of local area plans currently in effect across all functional areas of Fingal County Council and what the Department’s plan is for bringing the county into compliance with the Planning and Development Act 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31641/25]

392. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has carried out or commissioned any audit or review of systemic failures by Fingal County Council to prepare mandatory local area plans since the Planning and Development Act 2000 came into force; and if so, to publish its findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31642/25]

393. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he acknowledges that the Office of the Planning Regulator raised concerns during the preparation of the Fingal County Development Plan 2023–2029 regarding the absence of mandatory local area plans for settlements over 5,000 population; and if so, to clarify the reason no action was taken under section 31 of the Plann…

394. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether the Office of the Planning Regulator who raised concerns during the preparation of the Fingal County Development Plan 2023–2029 regarding the absence of mandatory local area plans for settlements over 5,000 population, failed to exercise its statutory requirement to ensure the plans as made address the l…

395. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm whether he or his Department has at any time represented in correspondence, Dáil statements, or other public forums that Fingal County Council was in compliance with its obligations under section 19 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 regarding local area plans, and if so, to clarify the factual basis for suc…

894. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there is an appeals procedure for a person whose application for the refund scheme for water has been refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11631/25]

434. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will extend the temporary waiver in respect of development contributions to local authorities for those building houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5762/25]

706. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of civil servants in his Department, and in agencies under the aegis of his Department, who were on career break in 2023 or 2024, by month and grade, and by length of career break; the number of civil servants in his Department and in agencies under the aegis of his Department who were on career break for longer t…

707. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of vacancies, by month and by grade, in his Department, and in agencies under the aegis of his Department, in 2023 and 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46212/24]